


The Dragon of the Reach

by chaosphoenix123



Category: BattleTech: MechWarrior
Genre: After the Civil War, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2019-11-22 16:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18139022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosphoenix123/pseuds/chaosphoenix123
Summary: Nico was ready to pack up his mercs and leave after the war. But Kamea had other plans. After accepting her offer, Nico and his crew find themselves adjusting to life not constantly jumping from one employer to the next. Now with a new war on the horizon, Nico struggles to protect the Coalition while the relationship between him and the High Lady takes a drastic turn. (KameaxOC)





	1. Chapter 1

> _**An Offering to the Dragon** _
> 
> _A glorious victory celebration forever ruin by the actions of a young man, second in line for the household throne. Before him stands an enraged father, a fuming brother, a sadden mother, and a crying sister._
> 
> _"Begone from my sight and never return", the father said._
> 
> " _The young man turns around without a second thought and quietly leaves the main hall, never looking back._
> 
> The man opens his eyes and stares out across the capital at all the lights that illuminated the night's sky.
> 
> "Haven't thought about that day in years", he says as he took in the sound of cheering and jubilant partying that was going on underneath the Taurian's fortress walls. The entire planet of Coromodir Six was celebrating the coronation of Kamea Arano and the end of the Aurigan Civil war. For two years the forces of the Arano Restoration and The Aurigan Directive clash until finally, on the very grounds of Coromodir itself, the Restoration claim a bloody but final victory.
> 
> " _Two years of war",_ Nico Strong thought as he scratches the hairs on his chin, " _Seem like only yesterday we fought Grim Sybil and her pirate crew to retrieve the Argo"._
> 
> Speaking of the very ship that carried him and the crew of his mercenary group **"The Dragon Raiders"** across space Nico Strong aka Dragon, turns his head to the stars, watching as another shuttlecraft, bearing his company's log, the face of a fierce green dragon, ascended into the atmosphere, where the Argo was currently drifting.
> 
> "The ship is all ours, no strings attach", Nico whistle, remembering back to when Kamea, as a show of thanks to the mercenaries who won her her throne back, gave the Argo over to them along with the _**Atlas II.**_
> 
> As a final thank you, she let them stay as her welcome guests until after the coronation, all expenses paid. Truth be told, Kamea pull Nico aside and told him that while she was extremely grateful for him and his crew's assistance, she was also doing this to make sure a powerful military strike force was on standby near the capital should some remnants of her uncle's forces come out of hiding and launch an attack before, or worse, during her coronation. Nico found himself agreeing with her tactful mind but chose only to tell the senior staff of the Raiders about this so that the majority of the crew could enjoy their well-earn vacation to the fullest.
> 
> _**Senior Staff of The Dragon Raiders/Argo:** _
> 
> _**XO:** _ _**Darius** _
> 
> _**Navigator: Surime** _
> 
> _**Head Mechtech:** _ _**Yang** _
> 
> _**Chief Engineer:** _ _**Farah** _
> 
> _**Head Medtech: Qartio** _
> 
> _**1st Lance Commander: Behemoth** _
> 
> _**2nd Lance Commander:** _ _**Dekker** _
> 
> _**3rd Lance Commander: Glitch** _
> 
> _**4th Lance Commander: Medusa** _
> 
> That was three days ago and the crowning of Kamea to the status of High Lady would be going down in another three. But alas, while the time off was greatly appreciated, Nico figure it was about time they move on back to the Rimward Frontier looking for work once everything was done. If there was one thing Nico knew beside Mech fighting, it was when he had overstay his welcome.
> 
> " _Guess I'll send a message along saying we're leaving_ _the day the coronation",_ he tells himself before his ears pick up the sound of footsteps behind him. Despite the war being over, Nico was still on his toes about any possible House Espinosa sympathizers that had yet to be rooted out. So when he turns to face the figure coming up behind him he had one hand on the handle of the sidearm at his waist. But his precaution proves all for not as it was none other than Alexander Madeira of House Madeira standing there behind him. The right hand of soon to be High Lady Kamea arches an eyebrow as he spots Nico's hand on his gun.
> 
> "Were...you expecting company?", Alexander asks causing Nico to shake his head.
> 
> "Nah", he chuckles, "Just still a little jumpy, that's all."
> 
> Alexander nods in agreement, "Can't blame ya. Even now I find myself jumping at shadows. No doubt a side effect of being on the run with Lady Kamea for three long years", as Nico notice him suddenly doing a thousand-yard stare, no doubt remembering back to those dark times.
> 
> Not wanting to ruin the evening with bad memories, Nico does a loud cough to get the youngest son of House Madeira attention.
> 
> "Ahem!"
> 
> Alexander snaps out of his trance and once again focuses on Nico.
> 
> "I hardly doubt you came up here to talk about the past", Nico states.
> 
> Alexander cracks a smile, "You would be correct, Nico. I'm actually here to pass along a message from Lady Kamea."
> 
> Nico throws Alexander a baffling look and for good reason. In days past, Kamea had no problems calling or even coming to Nico herself to let him know about something going on whether it be a new mission or just information on the war's progress.
> 
> " _She will be High Lady of the Reach soon. Might look bad on her to be seen socializing with a mere mercenary personally. Though I'm still surprised she allow me to come right into the castle",_ he thought, "What's she want?"
> 
> "She would like you to meet her tomorrow in her stateroom in the morning if that is possible", Alexander replies.
> 
> Nico thinks for a moment. He had to pass along the order to Darius to have everyone being making prepartion to ship off but other than wanting to run a few battle simulations he really had nothing going on in the morning. Besides the sims could be push until the afternoon.
> 
> "Nah, I'm free. Tell her I'll be there", he answers and Alexander nods his head in satisfaction.
> 
> "Excellent, now if you'll excuse me, my wife and son are waiting for me at my family's capital estate", as he makes an attempt to leave.
> 
> "Have a good nigh-", Nico stops in mid-sentence as he snaps his neck to Alexander, "Who's waiting for you?"
> 
> "My wife and son", Alexander repeats.
> 
> "You're married and have a kid?", Nico said.
> 
> Alexander looks at the mechwarrior funny, "Yeah, my wife and I have been married for four years now and my son was born two months before the war ended. Is that a problem?"
> 
> Nico opens and closes his mouth several times before he could form a coherent sentence, "I….always thought you and Kamea were a thing. I mean, you two were always together."
> 
> Several moments of silence pass between the two men, near identical in age yet so very different in lifestyles. Then without warning…
> 
> "Bhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!", echoes throughout the night as Alexander was suddenly bent over with his hands on his knees, his laughter being carried throughout the fortress by the walls and the wind, "You really thought that!"
> 
> Nico founds himself slightly tick off at the prospect of someone laughing at his expense, "EVERYONE THOUGHT THAT!"
> 
> Alexander's laughter somehow got louder as tears started falling from his eyes, "I can't breathe! This is -! This is too funny!"
> 
> This plays out for a full minute before….
> 
> "Are you quite done yet?", Nico sneers only for Alexander to continue chuckling for a few more moments before finally stopping.
> 
> "I'm sorry...I'm sorry. Now that I think about it, I can see how people could make that assumption about me and the High Lady. We are always seen together and we have known each other since we were kids", Alexander explains as he straightens up, "Nevertheless, we are friends, great friends, but nothing more. If I may be so bold, I would say we're more like brother and sister."
> 
> "Hmph", was all Nico said as he started to walk to the shuttles to make his way back to the Argo, "I'll see Kamea in the morning."
> 
> "Have a good night, Nico", Alexander says only to received a handwave in reply.
> 
> "For tomorrow is going to be an interesting day indeed", Alexander whispers to himself as a small smile forms, "For come the morning, you, my friend might well be making history."
> 
> **The Next Morning**
> 
> Nico took a good hard look in the mirror at himself. With his uncombed black hair that ran down to his neck and his chocolate eyes that match perfectly with his dark skin he never really consider himself ugly. At least, that was what most of his one night stands told him in the past years. But with the tattoo of the serpent dragon that circled around his right eye along with the long scar that started from the top of the left side of his forehead and went over his left eye all the way down to his nose, he wasn't exactly a supermodel either.
> 
> "Perhaps I should clean myself up a bit", he says to himself as he examines the hairs on his chin, "I am meeting "Lady" Kamea after all."
> 
> He thinks on this notion for just a second before shaking his head, "Nah, I'm good", as he makes his way to the Argo's landing bay. Two hours later, he is taking in the features of the hallways of the Royal Palace which was big enough that one could easily fit a light mech inside of them, much different than the cramp hallways of the Argo that Nico was used to. Velvet red carpet covered every inch of the floors and large portraits of House Arano bloodline adore the walls. At both ends of every hallway, a pair of House Arano Royal Guards were posted, standing at attention with their rifles at their shoulders. He walks by them like he had been during the past few days, with both of his hands in his pockets and whistling a tune.
> 
> But then something strange happens as he turns the corner in front of the guards…
> 
> They saluted.
> 
> Nico was sure that there wasn't anyone behind him so that could only imply that they were saluting him.
> 
> This action stops Nico in his track and he turns his head to stare at them.
> 
> "Um...is something wrong?", he asks only to received a shout in return.
> 
> "Sir, nothing is wrong, sir! All conditions are normal!", the pair yell in unison before dropping their salute. Nico cleans the inside of his ears after the echoing of the screams dies down.
> 
> "No...I meant why are you saluting me? I'm not part of the Aurigan military", Nico states remembering how the average military soldier feels about mercenaries and it wasn't a high opinion.
> 
> The man to his right pops another salute, "Sir, as of 0400 this morning, Lady Kamea has released all information to the public regarding _**The Dragon Raiders**_ mercenary company and their contributions to the Arano Restoration during the war! We are merely showing our respect to you, sir!"
> 
> Nico took a double take at this revelation, "She what?",
> 
> "Yes, sir!", shouts the guard to the left, "She personally stakes that the war would have been lost without you!"
> 
> Nico stares at the two men for a moment, " _Why would she do something like this? I'm a merc, I'm in it for the money, not the glory."_ He then returns his attention back to the guards, "Do either you know where I can find a data-slate?"
> 
> Minutes later, Nico is still walking through the hall while reading the information on his newly acquire data-slate. Everything was release by Kamea. Everything from Nico's role in defending her on the day her uncle and cousin betrayed her to the battle against Victoria at the arena.
> 
> "They're calling me the "Dragon of the Reach", Nico shook his head at the absurd nickname that the newspapers have given him, "Damn, that sounds corny."
> 
> What was even more silly was how the newspapers had spun about that certain battle in the arena that day. It said that Nico loyalty stood side by side with Kamea in his _**Highlander**_ mech against Victoria's lance and even took down three mechs while the two women duel each other. They made it sound like that it started out two against four.
> 
> In reality, the battle started out with Kamea, himself, Behemoth, and Medusa. But when Glitch and Dekker reported that they were having trouble finishing off Victoria's loyal remnant forces, Nico made the call to send Behemoth and Medusa to aid them while he would hold off the three mechs until they got back. He was lucky that Victoria ordered that no one was to touch Kamea but herself, so that made him the main focus for the other three and all he had to do was run around, dodging fire. Though that change half-way through their duel when Kamea got the upper-hand and Victoria, already no longer sane, order the rest of her lance to attack the heir of House Arano, that was when Nico showed everyone just how good of a mech-pilot he truly was, though almost at the cost of his _**Highlander**_ and his life.
> 
> " _Yang is still sending me messages about how it's going to take three weeks to repair_ _all_ _the damage_ _and the bandages on my arm and legs are starting to irritate me",_ Nico thought before a smile appear on his face, " _Though I can't wait to hear Behemoth and Medusa's complains on how they_ weren't mentioned _at all."_
> 
> But then a thought cross through his mind, something that was mention in the article. About how he steadfast stood by Kamea's side.
> 
> Nico had to admit that during the war things started getting a little hot for him and his crew, especially after the Taurian Concordat enter the war on the Directorate's side. Any sane small-time mercenary company would have kicked rocks and broke the contract he had with Kamea rather than face a power like the Taurians, but for some reason, Nico stayed.
> 
> " _Well_ , _t_ _he pay was good. Looks bad on our reputation if bail on our first big contracts because things got dicey",_ Nico thought before his thoughts drifted to his crew. Not one member of the Argo opted out, even when things look bad. Nico didn't know whether to chalk that up to personal loyalty to him, the fact the pay was good and constant or because he was fair in his treatment of the crew.
> 
> "I guess adding that low-g pool really was a good idea after all", Nico says as he arrives in front of the doors that led into Kamea's stateroom. He glances at the two royal guards and instantly notices that they were more armored and better armed than the ones he has passed along his way here.
> 
> "I'm here to see-", he started before the two guards pop to attention and begin to open the doors.
> 
> "Hail, Dragon of the Reach! Lady Kamea awaits you!"
> 
> Nico merely rolls his eyes as he makes his way inside and the doors close behind him and he found himself glazing at a room that had on both ends shelves of books, though the middle was mostly vacated except for a single wooden desk where Kamea was at going over a large amount of paperwork alongside two of her aides with two royal bodyguards behind her. Even from a distance, Nico could see dark bags under her eyes, indicating a lack of sleep.
> 
> " _When the last time she got some sleep?",_ Nico wonders as Kamea and her aides look up from the paperwork to see the new arrival and the next High Lady couldn't help but crack a smile at the way her companion was standing there looking around at the room. Eventually, Nico ends his little sightseeing and turns his attention to her.
> 
> "Yo, Kamea. Alexander said you needed to see me. What you need?", he says with all the tact of Behemoth ramming her mech through a building in an effort to destroy it, (Even though she argue that it was an excellent way to save ammunition).
> 
> The four audible gasps behind Kamea and to her sides all but confirmed that she was the only one in the room who appreciated Nico's straightforwardness, having grown used to it over the last two years.
> 
> Nico easily heard the gasps as well and notice the shock expressions on the faces on the aides and the guards. Thinking quickly, he made a feeble attempt at a bow before speaking.
> 
> "Errr, my presence was...requested? Yeah, requested. My presence was requested by you, my Lady?", he said.
> 
> Kamea looks to her aides and her guards, "Leave us", she commanded and after a moment's hesitation, they all comply with the order, walking past Nico with looks of contempt and disgust to which he only smiles in return.
> 
> The two share a moment of silence after the doors close, staring at one another for the longest time. Kamea with an emotionless expression plastered on her face while Nico merely stares back her with his own neutral expression.
> 
> Without warning, Kamea started snickering and before long it because full-blown laughter that fills the room.
> 
> "Hahaha! My presence was requested by you, my Lady?! That was the best you could come up with?! And what kind of bow was that?! You looked like you were doing yoga stretches!", Kamea laughs as Nico rolled his eyes and walked over to her desk.
> 
> "That type of criticism is funny coming from you _ **",**_ Nico reminded her as he sat on the desk's edge, " _It has been a while since I had to do anything remotely close to that."_
> 
> He looks over at the stacks of paper behind him and pulls one off, "Shifting trade routes to Panzyr, huh?", he reads aloud.
> 
> "In order to keep the food relief up. Even with the war being over there are still vast swathes of Panzyr's population that are still living on the bare minimum of nourishment", Kamea explains as she calms down, "I have been working on the reconstruction of the Reach ever since the duel at the arena."
> 
> "I see", Nico says as he puts the paper back on the stack, "But I doubt you ask me to come here just to tell me how the rebuilding is going."
> 
> Kamea takes a breath and pushes a button on the panel to her left and the room darkens and a holo-map appears in the middle of the room, showing the entirety of the Inner Sphere and the Periphery, factions and all.
> 
> "What do you see, Nico?", Kamea asks and the mech-pilot instantly draws his attention to the lower center of the map where the Aurigan Coalition was nothing more than a small speck compared to the powers of the Federated Sun and the Terran Hegemony. In fact, the Taurian Concordat was easily four times the size of the Coalition and they weren't even considered a threat to their northern neighbors, House Davion.
> 
> "I see Aurigan in a bad spot. You could easily be shallow up by the Concordat, the Confederation, the Free World League, or even the Magistracy should they no longer see you as worth the effort to keep around.", he admitted while showing the tactical prowess that made him such a high-level threat on the battlefield, "Hell, a coalition of the Rimworld Frontier systems could spell trouble, especially while you're in your rebuilding stage."
> 
> Kamea nods her head in agreement, "Finally, someone who isn't afraid to give me the hard truth. Thank you for that, Nico."
> 
> Nico tilts his head back toward Kamea, "Everyone else being disgustingly optimistic?"
> 
> "So much that I wanted to vomit", Kamea replied as she laid back in her chair, "They all say that we're powerful enough to hold our own against any one of the other factions long enough for a truce to be formatted. Some of the more bolder ones think we can fight them to a standstill."
> 
> Nico shakes his head, "Ignorance is bliss. I willing to bet any one of them can easily pack up their entire house and flee to another faction the minute things start going badly for them."
> 
> "No doubt", the High Lady of the Reach agrees as she stands up and walks over to the holo-map, pointing her finger at the northern border, more specifically the Zangul system, "I have received reports of a number of Capellan lances operating here. It has mostly been attacks on our patrols and our outposts in the area. The confederation denies involvement and says that it must be deserters or pirates bearing their insignia."
> 
> Nico looks at the map, rationalize these attacks, "Pirates and deserters, really?"
> 
> Kamea gives a dark smile, "I thought the same thing."
> 
> "So let's says that it's not "pirates" or whatnot? Prelude to invasion? Probing your defenses for weakness?"
> 
> Kamea nods, "It would seem so. We have never had an official problem with them before but it seems like the civil war has left us in a weaken state and it's too good of an opportunity for them to pass up. Taking over the Reach would put them in a good position to take the Concordat plus with the great positioning and additional resources they could reclaim lost territory from House Davion."
> 
> Nico feels an awkward feeling swelling up in his chest, "So what happens next?"
> 
> Kamea takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, "You say it like it is the Reach's only problem", as she then directs her attention to the eastern border, "Taurian forces have been launching small raids into the Artru systems. Protector Calderon insists that these are rogue elements of Ostergaard's command but even if they are he doesn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to bring them in."
> 
> Nico taps his chin in thought, "So you think Taurain is trying to pull the same trick that the Capellan Confederation is trying to pull? Using the coalition as a staging area for a much bigger conflict while letting these "rogue elements" do all the work for them and test your defenses?"
> 
> "Yes, and how I respond to these threats could mean the difference between war and peace. The attacking forces are small, no doubt basically recon elements but if I send too large of a force I could be seen as overreacting and they may use the opportunity to mobilize a larger force and wipe out a chunk Aurigan's military in one fell swoop. If I send too small of a force, they will see it as me not taking the threat seriously enough and mobilize anyway to make a devastating first strike", Kamea tells Nico, "What I need is a response that is not too large but at the same time not too small."
> 
> Kamea then turns her attention toward Nico who was still sitting at the desk. The MechWarrior for hire shakes his head as he stood up from the desk.
> 
> "Okay, Kamea, let's get one thing straight. You dissolve our contract on the day your uncle surround", he started.
> 
> "I did", Kamea answered as she already had a feeling where the conversation was now headed.
> 
> "And I came here today as a friend seeing how much we been through together these past two years and because the generosity you have shown me and my crew in recent days" Nico went on, "Hell, the fact that we're still here even though you aren't paying us anymore says a lot."
> 
> "And I greatly appreciated that, Nico. Truly I do."
> 
> "So let's cut to the chase and be done with these silly games. Why are you telling me all of this? Why are you telling me something that would be considered top-secret to all but the highest brass in your military?", Nico asks as he took a step closer to the ruler of the Reach.
> 
> "Tell me, Nico, what are your plans once you leave the Reach? What will you and the Dragon Raiders do next?", Kamea asks as she clasps her hands together, causing the man to slightly growl.
> 
> "Did you not just hear me when I said no more games?"
> 
> "Please answer the question", Kamea says.
> 
> Nico scratches his head for a moment, trying to find the best way to word the decision he came to last night, "We're heading to the Rim Frontier and pick up any jobs that come along."
> 
> "I see", Kamea says as she nods, "And then what?"
> 
> "What do you mean?"
> 
> "For the size of your company, you're remarkably well-off money wise, no doubt thanks to you and Darius shrew management and selling the scraps from all of the Directorate and Concordat's mechs", Kamea started, "But you have to realize that even with a crew like yours and the Argo, you are still considered, for lack of a better word, small-fry compare to the major mercenaries group in the Inner Sphere like the Big Mac or the Eridani Light Horse."
> 
> Nico, regrettably, had no chose but to agree with her on that. While the _**Dragon Raiders**_ were no doubt some of the top dogs in the Rimward Frontier, they were nothing more than a big fish in a small pond compared to the some of the other mercenary groups throughout human space. A few of these mercs were large enough to overwhelm individual planets' militaries.
> 
> "It is said that forty percent of newly form mercenary companies are destroyed or dissolve within six months of their forming. Sixty percent of those that make it past this point meet a similar fate within a year", Kamea states as she paced back and forth in front of Nico, "While you and the raiders are fortunate enough to make it past this milestone, I fear it is only a matter of time before you hit a wall."
> 
> "I'll take my chances", Nico tells her.
> 
> "Oh?", Kamea raises an eyebrow, "And how long before the jobs of the Rimworld can no longer support you or worse, a bigger merc company moves into the frontier and realizes it doesn't like competition?"
> 
> "We took on the Taurian Concordat just fine", Nico reminded her.
> 
> "With respect to you and your men fighting prowess, the Taurians sent a small fraction of their military might to aid my uncle. That was nowhere close to their full fighting strength which is mostly focused on their northern border with the Federated Suns", Kamea counters, "And let's not forget, despite Ostergaard going rogue, he was still considered a hero of the Taurian military with his fights with the Federated Suns and you no doubt killing him has put a bullseye on your head, if only to preserve Taurian pride."
> 
> "As I said, I'll take my chances", Nico said as he started to walk to the door, only to get stopped by Kamea stepping in front of him.
> 
> "I have an offer for you, Nico. One I think you and your crew will greatly appreciate", Kamea says but Nico merely sidesteps her and keeps heading for the door.
> 
> "It's time that I and the Raiders moved on, Kamea. There's not much profit in peacetime anyway. Once you're crown the High Lady, we're gone", he tells her.
> 
> Kamea once again appears in front of Nico, proving that she was faster than she looked.
> 
> "At least hear me out", Kamea all but beg.
> 
> "Listen, you already know how we feel about garrison duty, so if that's your offer for an extended contract, it's not going to work", Nico tells her as he places his hands on her shoulders and moves her to the side, "Now if things get hot again, you'll know who to call", as he heads once more to the door."
> 
> "I'm offering you and _**The**_ _**Dragon Raiders**_ a position in the Aurigan Military", Kamea said softly.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Nico's foot was still hovering in mid-air, seconds after Kamea made her bold announcement. Then he slowly turns around on one leg to look back at the woman who was standing there with the same emotionless face she had on when he first entered.
> 
> "If this is your idea of a joke it's not very funny", the ace mech-warrior says as he puts his foot down only to get a head-shake from the head of House Arano in return.
> 
> "No jokes,", she assures him, "The Aurigan Coalition needs someone of your talent in these dark times along with your company. I'll be honest, the military is in complete shambles after the civil war. A good number of the experience officers supported Victoria and my uncle, thus I can't fully trust them. Executions and imprisonment are on their way for the more senior ones while the junior officers are getting reassign to lowly positions and kept a hard-eye on."
> 
> Nico founds himself sympathizing with Kamea but that was it.
> 
> "And if I was to mass my forces at one end of Aurigan Reach to deal with either one of these threats, the rest would be completely defenseless. We're too spread out and it's going to take months, if not years, to get recruitment levels back up to what they were before the coup and that's not even counting our mech numbers", she ended.
> 
> Before Nico could reply there's a knock at the door. Moments later, Alexander peeks his head in.
> 
> "Sorry, I'm late. I had to finish going over the paperwork for...", as he senses the mood in the room, "Oh, I have a feeling you two are already discussing things."
> 
> "Yes, we are, Alexander. Do come in", Kamea says and Alexander does just that.
> 
> "You're in on this too, aren't ya?", Nico asks Kamea's Head Adviser.
> 
> Alexander gives a nervous chuckle, "Afraid I am, we have been talking about it ever since the war ended. But to be fair, you and _**The**_ _**Dragon Raiders**_ are as of right now, the most flexible combat unit in the Coalition and contain the most experience mechwarriors in the Reach."
> 
> Nico lets off a dry laugh, "Bullshit! What about Raynard, Kanaloa, and Charybois?", he counted on his fingers, "Those guys got you out of the scrap on Artru, didn't they? There are your best pilots in the Reach right there!"
> 
> It was Kamea turn to laugh now, "I applaud you for your humbleness, Nico. But you seem to be forgetting that while those three got me to the LZ, it was you and the others that circle around them from the SLDF bunker and took their rear by surprise, tying up their main forces and only leaving us to deal with the vanguard."
> 
> Nico crosses his arms, "I didn't forget. I just didn't mention it because it was not like we put a dent in their numbers or anything, just took pot shots and missile volleys them until you were able to get away and then Sumire came and pick us up."
> 
> "Whatever you say, Dragon", Alexander shrugs, "Moving on though, I think it's a wonderful offer and you should jump on it. I mean, you never heard of a mercenary company getting integrated into the actual military before. Individual mercenaries, yeah, but not this. The closest thing to that is company signing on constantly with the same faction, sometimes for centuries."
> 
> "Well that's fine and dandy for them, now ain't it?", Nico comments.
> 
> "Why are you so against this proposal, Nico?", Kamea wondered, "During the war, I would assign you near-suicidal tasks and you would do it without hesitation."
> 
> "I have my own personal reason but one of them is because I have never been good with taking orders from someone who wasn't willing to get their own hands dirty. If the pay was high enough, I would swallow my pride and deal with it but now you are trying to get me to agree to an offer that will have me taking orders from some puff up general on a not-that-great of a paycheck", he explains.
> 
> "That won't be the case. You and men will be taking orders from me and me alone,", Kamea told him, "In fact, you'll be semi-independent."
> 
> Nico looks Kamea directly in her eyes, "Semi-independent?"
> 
> "Listen, Nico. Take this offer and you and your crew will basically form the core of Aurigan revive special forces due to your size", Alexander explained, "Lady Kamea will give you an assignment and from there on how you handle the mission is fully up to you, granted you keep civilian casualties and collateral damage to a minimum, of course."
> 
> "But basic training and uniform regulations and whatnot", Nico list off, "There's no way the rest of the guys will be down for that."
> 
> Kamea shakes her head at his stubbornness, "While yes, you will have to conform to at least the bare minimum of military regulations, such as appearances and such, you are welcome to keep things going the way they have always been on the Argo. I would be an utter fool to try to fix something that ain't broken."
> 
> Nico turns and slowly walks back to Kamea's desk, taking a seat in her chair and spinning it around to look out at the window behind him. He looks up into the sky and sees a flight of aerospace fighters fly overhead in diamond formation, leaving a white streak behind them.
> 
> " _Me, an officer in an honest-to-god military. Has everyone in the Reach gone fucking nuts?",_ he asks himself as he looks off into the distance at a nearby military base, " _Was it like this when you offered the position of a royal bodyguard, Raju? You tired everything in your power to make them change their mind? Or did you hop right on it?"_
> 
> Memories of his time when the grizzle MechWarrior play in Nico's mind as he calls out over his shoulder at Kamea and Alexander, "What rank would I be if I decided to go along with this crazy idea of yours? Just out of curiosity."
> 
> Kamea lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, "Well, going off of Aurigan's military structure compare with that of the average mercenary company, you would be given the rank of colonel while your subordinates such as Darius...", Kamea pauses, "Well, we are still deciding on that."
> 
> Nico spins around in his chair, "You two want to make me a colonel? Without going through officer training school?"
> 
> Alexander coughs before speaking, "In most military throughout the Inner Sphere, specials forces are usually kept out of the command structure because they only answer to the head of state as was explained. Very few people are going to question the legitimacy of your rank, especially when they find out that the High Lady herself personally commission you base on your merits."
> 
> Gears started turning in Nico's head and he quickly came to a conclusion, "It was no coincidence that you happen to release all those files on us about what we did during the civil war this morning, was it?"
> 
> Kamea at least had the good graces to look down at the floor in quiet meek shame. Seeing this, Alexander steps forward.
> 
> "You have to realize, Nico", he began, "There are people in the Aurigan Coalition who will not be too thrilled about a mercenary suddenly becoming a high ranking officer in the military, no matter what you and your men did to help our cause. We thought it best that if we can't get all of the military and nobility on our side with this decision then the next best thing would be to get the public behind it."
> 
> Nico turns around back toward the window, "Oh, I can only imagine the newspaper article when the "Dragon of the Reach" is standing next to High Lady Kamea looking absolutely spiffy in his sharp new uniform, with shining medals and everything", Nico jest, "The children will eat it up and recruitment will soar!", as he gives a fist pump, "All according to plan and a win-win for everyone!"
> 
> The clambering of metal onto wood startle Nico and forces him to once more spins the chair to see the source of the noise. His attention is drawn to the center of the desk where the crown that he usually saw on Kamea's head was laying. Not the official crown, but the one she wears to significant that she was next in line to govern the Reach.
> 
> He slowly raises his eye upwards to meet with the ones that belong to Kamea, who was now glaring a hole into his soul. Alexander was slowly scooting away from her and even the ace mechpilot who had stared death in the face a dozen times and didn't blink found himself slightly intimidated.
> 
> "Is that what you think this all is?", she spat in a voice Nico had not heard her use on him before, "A recruitment tool? A means to raise numbers?"
> 
> "Well-", Nico began.
> 
> "Do you truly think I would sink to such a level?! To such a level that I would use a man who I consider a loyal friend for propaganda?!", she screams and part of Nico was worried that the guards outside might get the wrong idea of what was going on in the room.
> 
> "My High Lady", Alexander tried, "You are suffering from sleep deprived. Perhaps it is best-"
> 
> "Weldry, Panzyr, Smithon, Artru, Itrom, Tyrlon, and finally, Coromodir Six itself!", Kamea shouted, ignoring her childhood friend, "At every major battle in the civil war, there was a significant chance that the Restoration could have ended then and there but yet you and your raiders manage to pull off the impossible and achieve victory every time!"
> 
> Nico found himself standing up as Kamea listed off all of the hellish battles he and the _ **Dragon Raiders**_ fought in during the Aurigan Civil War, brief flashbacks coming up here and there.
> 
> "The only reason I'll be able to become High Lady is because of the sacrifices the soldiers underneath me made but most of all because you decided to never abandon me when things got bad!", Kamea rants as she stomps over to the front of the desk and leans forward until she and Nico's faces were almost touching. Close enough that he could easily make out the light scars on her face.
> 
> "I mean this with all sincerity in my heart, Nico", she whispers but the pilot heard her anyway due to the close proximity they were to each other, "The Aurigan Coalition needs you here. For the sake of all the lives lost in the war, including our teacher Raju, at least consider the offer I have laid before you."
> 
> The top pilot of the _**Dragon Raiders**_ is silent with only his slow breathing being heard, "I need to talk to the crew about this. They have a right to know before I make my choice."
> 
> Kamea withdraw from her position and straighten herself out, "Very well, I'll await your decision on-"
> 
> "Before your coronation", Nico cuts her off, "I will tell you my decision before you're crown. But whatever my decision, the **_Dragon Raiders_** will stay until the day after you become the High Lady", as he moves around the desk and heads for the door, not making eye contact with Kamea whatsoever. He is then stopped by Alexander.
> 
> "I'll be sending the full agreement to your console on the Argo as soon as you contact me. It has all of the benefits and such within it so everyone will know what they would be receiving if you agree", he explains, "Now know that even if you don't personally agree to the offer, there are sub-offers for each of your crewmen should they decide to join the military."
> 
> Nico nods at this. He has always run a policy that anyone onboard the Argo was free to come and go as they wish so he wasn't surprised by the sub-offers. If guys like Behemoth, Sumire, or even Yang, decided that the military life was more stable then so be it. Their presence would be greatly missed but Nico would stop them from having a more relaxed lifestyle.
> 
> Nico reaches the door without any more interruption but stops just short of grabbing the handle, "Kamea", he calls out over his shoulder.
> 
> "What is it, Nico?", she answers, looking straight ahead out the window, never looking back at him, her crown still laying on the desk.
> 
> "You should take Alexander's advice and get some rest. I didn't fight my way through hell for two years just for you to drop dead from exhaustion", and with that, he made his way through the doors.
> 
> _A shuttle takes off into the night sky, leaving behind the young man in its wake on the edge of the Rimward Frontier._
> 
> _A backpack of basic supplies, one thousand c-bills, the common clothes on his back,_ _a_ _goodbye kiss from his mother and sister,_ _and a torn up photo of him standing in his former house uniform with a girl his age dress in a glamouring gown next to him._
> 
> _This was all he had to his name and his mom had to beg for him to get the backpacks and c-bills._
> 
> _He turns his attention off into the distance and sees a few lights on the horizon._
> 
> _Where others would see exile and despair he saw opportunity and hope._
> 
> _He starts walking toward the rundown settlement._
> 
> _There is a cold chill in the air and the sounds of gunfire could be heard off in the distance._
> 
> _But he keeps moving forward._
> 
> _Always moving forward._
> 
> _Never looking back._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2** _

_**The Dragon makes his Decision.** _

_The young man ducks behind a corner as a storm of bullets sail by him._

_It had only been less than a day since his exile and he already found himself in the middle of a gang war._

_He picked up a gun off a nearby corpse and made his way, inch by inch, to safety. Two men lay dead because they made the mistake to aim their guns at him, thinking he was their enemies. The training that his family had invested in him pay off in those moments, two shots, two kills and now, two extra guns. He moves further and further away from the site of the battle, ignoring the gunfire and screams behind him._

_Always moving forward._

_Never looking back._

Nico snaps out of his daydream.

" _I thought I buried_ _that_ _a long time ago",_ Nico tells himself as he returns to the battle pods simulator he was running. He would normally be doing this within the confines of his  _ **Highlander,**_ (a special, yet expensive, simulator that was set up for him by Farah and Yang) but since the mechtech just started on the repairs yesterday it was going to be awhile.

Word had finally reach the ship about the entire Aurigan Reach knowing about the contributions made by the merc company during the civil war and it was safe to say that morale couldn't be higher. Everyone, from the lowest medtech to the highest navigators was carrying themselves with a sense of pride, walking around with their head held high and their chest puff out. In the depths of his mind, Nico theorizes he could tell the crew that they were going to war with the Federated Suns single-handily and they all would be shouting battle cries.

Anyway, it had been six hours since he had returned to the Argo and assemble his senior staff in his quarters. There he gave them each a copy of the offer that Kamea and Alexander were pitching and told them to look over it. Since then, he has been running non-stop battle simulations hoping to give his trusted comrades time to look over the document and also improve his combat ability.

Sighing heavily, the "Dragon of the Reach" pauses the simulation and lean back in his chair, "Who the fuck am I kidding? I just wanted to be as far away from this clusterfuck as possible."

The sheer thought of being in a proper military unit left a bad taste in his mouth. He was done a long time ago taking orders from people who weren't willing to put their own lives on the line that why he became a merc, for at least he got paid to fight where others were too afraid to. Now he greatly respected Kamea for putting herself on the front lines during the civil war, but if she thought she would always be the one giving him orders, she was sorely mistaken, that's not how it works.

" _She's acting the same way she did before Weldry. Thinking everything will go smoothly for her",_ Nico thought feeling his irritation start to rise, " _Seriously, who does she think she is? I'm a mercenary, goddamn it! I'm in it for the money, not the glory!"_

**Thump! Thump!**

" _How dare she try to_ _manipulate_ _our_ _friendship_ _just to keep us around_ _?!"_

This irritation within him slowly started to turn to anger as his blood started to boil.

**Thump! Thump! Thump!**

" _I_ _should have_ _told her straight from the beginning that I'm only helping her so that I could avenge Raju!"_

This red hot anger burned like a flamer, hot enough to melt any mech.

**Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!**

Nico punches the release latch and throws back the hatch to the training pod.

"WHAT THE FLYING FUCK DO YOU WANT?!", he roars, startling Apex and sending her jumping straight into Coach's arms.

Heaving heavily, Nico scans his surroundings to see Apex, Coach, Hacker, Deadeye, Blockade, Archangel, Ronin, Falcon, and finally, Showboat all staring at him with terrify expressions etch into their faces.

"I'll ask again, what the do you all want?", Nico snarls actually causing the harden mechwarriors to take a step back from him.

After a moment's hesitation, Hacker steps forward, "Um, Sir? It's our schedule time for combat practice", he says rather meekly.

Nico glares, yes, glared, at the digital calendar that was on the wall in the room and sure it enough, it was time for combat practice for the schedule group. But then he notices something odd.

"Where are Medusa and Glitch?", he seethes through his teeth though slightly more calm "They're supposed to be leading this practice."

This time Ronin spoke up, "They're in private meeting in the command center with Behemoth and Dekker."

Nico could literally feel his blood pressure starting to rise as he hops out of the pod and stares straight ahead, not so much as glancing at anyone else.

"Archangel, Ronin", he spoke as the two mechwarriors straighten up upon hearing their names called, "I want you two leading this practice course; after the veteran pilots, you two have some of the most experience in the battle tactics of the company. I want at least four battle simulations logged before you leave. Standards equal ops, one light, one medium, one heavy, and one assault mech. These will be your assign training missions: Base defense, recovery, convoy ambush, and finally, an up-front battle against at least three assault mechs. After that I want your two lances to run a light mechs only head-to-head battle against one another, best out of five, do I make myself clear?"

"You got it, boss", was Archangel's reply as Ronin gives a thumbs-up. Nico then spares Hacker a look.

"Whoever gets Hacker, put him in the  _ **Atlas II**_  instead of a heavy mech for the practice missions since he was actually brave enough to speak up."

Without even waiting for a response to his unusual request, (he had yet to authorized anyone outside himself and the vets to use the  _ **Atlas II**_ ) he made his way out of the training bay. He had a meeting in the command center but first…

**Barracks**

"Negative, Dragon. I haven't seen Behemoth or Dekker. Think they said something about meeting with Darius for something", Paradise scratch his head in thought, "By the way, any chance we can have another movie night soon?"

**Engineering**

"Sorry, captain. Farah said she had an important get together to go to", one of the engineers told him while making adjustments to one of the drive stabilizers, "Pass me that wrench, will ya?"

**Mech Bay**

"Yeah, sir. The boss said he had to go talk about something with Sumire", the mechanic answered, "But since you're here and all, any word on when we're getting some spare parts for the gyros?"

**Navigation**

"Let's see, if I recall she went to go chat with the XO", the assistant navigator replied, "Oh, while you're here, wherein the frontier would you like to stop first?"

**Med Bay**

"Nah, Doc stepped out about an hour ago", the Medtech stated before looking at his vitals screen, "Sir, how come your heart rate is off the scale? Wait! Where are you going? What do you mean by get some med beds prep and ready?!"

**Command Center**

The door to the command center slides open, illuminating the dark room and revealing the unofficial staff meeting that was taking place. Darius and the others snap their head toward the new occupant and instantly feel a cold chill crawl down their spines. Standing there in the doorway, looking every bit the mystical beast of destruction that was his callsign was their commanding officer.

"While I have no problems with ya discussing with each other about the offer, I never said that you were allowed to neglect your duties in the process", he growls as he steps in and the door closes behind him, "Or did you just assume I wouldn't notice? Perhaps I should have you all replace by your subordinates who are actually doing their job right now?"

He is greeted with silence as a response, the only sound being made was Qartio taking a puff of her cigarette and slowly exhaling. She was a short, skinny, woman of Japanese/Chinese descent with her long black hair that had a few strands of gray slip into it along with her emerald green eyes that still had life in them despite her advanced age.

She was the Argo's head medtech who join up with them at Weldry and her brash attitude, vulgar language, and her tendency to smoke while doing her job put off a number of the crew who at first were a tad unwilling to put their lives in the hands of one who looked the complete opposite of the stereotypical doctor. But in time they eventually came around once everyone realized that every mechwarrior on board was brought back from the brink of death by her at least twice.

Apparently, she used to do her medical practices in the Aurigan's capital before the war and was one of the many sent to that hellish world due to being one of the most outspoken critics on how the Directorate wasn't helping the people due to the rising cost of medical supplies and care.

She was also the main reason Raju was able to stay alive for three years in that hellhole doing everything in her limited power to keep the old mechwarrior going despite the tortures he was subjugated to until he finally succumbed just a day before the liberation. Nico came to find out that Raju regularly visited her clinic when he first joined up with the royal bodyguard and the two became fast friends though deep down Nico sometimes suspected that they were something more.

Back to the matter at hand though….

"Dragon", Darius finally voices after a few moments, "We were just discussing-"

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out what you guys and gals are talking about. I was just hoping that you would have at least done it on your off-time", the commander of the Argo interrupts, "I expected better of all of you and I have half a mind to dock ya pay for this."

The collective reaction in the room was one of shock and disbelief for Nico rarely cut someone's pay. To do so meant that you really have done mess up and even his nearly-infinite patience wouldn't tolerate it. The last time he had done so was for the mechwarrior Showboat after she almost hit a civilian transport with one of her lasers while the company was taking on the Directorate at a spaceport and that was after Darius and the rest of the senior staff had to stop Nico from kicking her off the ship on the grounds that the war was heating up and they needed every experienced pilot they could get.

The mood is tense in the room as the "Dragon of the Reach" stalk around the room looking each and every one of its occupants in the eyes before finally moving to in front of the command holo-screen.

He sighs heavily before speaking, "I take it you're all in agreement for this offer."

...

"Do I have to repeat myself?"

"Why the hell wouldn't we?", Darius asks after a few moments.

"Yeah, this is a sweet deal", Farah said, "Officer commission, steady pay, a pension when we retire. We be fools not to take this offer!"

Nico ran his hand down his face, " _We'll also be at the beck and call of the nobility of the Reach_ _despite what Kamea believes._ _It's never simple for a head of state among the stars",_ he thought before speaking, "I want each of you to inform you prospect departments or lances of this offer. Come noon tomorrow I want a general consensus on the crew feeling toward this and remember while they're individual contracts available it comes down to me whether or not the  _ **Dragon Raiders**_ as a whole do this and no decision has been made yet, make sure you tell them that part. Dismiss."

With that, the senior staff made their way out.

"Dekker, Yang, Sumire, you guys stay back for a moment", Dragon calls out and the Navigator, Head Mechtech, and Lance Commander stop in their tracks. As soon as the door closes, Nico jump right into it.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush. Each of you has either have connections or had issues with nobility in the past and I need to know right now where do you stand with Kamea", he states, "I'm not going to leave anyone behind that's going to cause her trouble especially when I need them here."

"I think you already know where I stand with Kamea, I share a cockpit with her", Yang starts as he gives a thumbs up, "She's okay in my books."

Nico simply nods and the mechtech made his way out. Nico then turns to Sumire and Dekker, "What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room, not even to Darius."

Both of the remaining senior staff exchange glances with one another before Nico continue on, "Tensions are rising between the Coalition and the Capellan Confederation while their relationship with Taurian is still tense at best. I say this because no doubt they are going to look into the backgrounds of every person on this ship especially the command staff and they are going to have a few….questions about you two if you take this offer."

"I have no love for the Concordat", Sumire declares.

"I know you don't, not after what happen to your family", Nico says before looking at Dekker, "But you, on the other hand, come straight from House Liao and that might raise a few eyebrows."

Dekker rubs his neck before speaking, "I haven't talked to anyone from the Confederation in years except a few old navy buddies."

Nico finds himself shaking his head, "I hope you have a better answer than that if it comes down to an investigation or else you're going to have a long, long day. Dismiss."

Nico spent the rest of the day inside his quarters going over the company's finances just to make sure that they would be alright should the crew choose to keep doing the mercenary life. This task takes him late into the night cycle until he finally dozes off. Sleep came easy to him, be it was anything but peaceful.

_There was Kamea standing in a stunning red and white gown in the middle of a grassy field all by herself, the capital in the distance behind her. Her gaze was focus forward, looking straight ahead and nowhere else. Then without warning, a shadow of immeasurable size engulfs the capital behind her and make a beeline straight toward the next High Lady but her glaze remains ever forward. The ocean of darkness swiftly makes its way toward her and is only a couple yards away when it reels upward like a tidal wave that reaches to the heavens. Its outer edges turn to serrated blades and it began its rapid descend down toward the Kamea._

_A voice rings out, it was grizzle mechwarrior, Raju._

" _Nico, take care of Kamea for me!"_

_Just as the tips of the shadowy blades were about to pierce Kamea, a blur appears out of nowhere and wraps itself around her. The shadow crashes onto this new arrival and is instantly beaten back unable to penetrate the mysterious mass. Finally, the blur began to take shape around the heir of House Arano and within moments, a giant green winged dragon was standing before the shadows, its body forming a protective screen around the woman, fiery flames coming out of its mouth. As the mighty beast made ready to fight off the darkness, Lady Kamea kept looking forward, never looking back._

Nico's eyes snap open and he finds himself staring up at the ceiling of his room. Over and over in his mind, Raju's last words to him repeat. He remembers where he heard them from, back on that dreadful day, when his teacher sacrifice himself in order to allow time for him, Kamea, and Alexander to escape. Right before he ejected, Mastiff told him to take care of Lady Kamea.

He must have forgotten about those words after Kamea's dropship blew up and everyone in the Reach thought she was dead.

" _So why_ _am I now_ _remember this_ _out of the blue_ _?",_ he told himself as he got up and left the room.

He found himself alone as he walks through the hallways of the Argo, most of the crew either asleep in their quarters, working the skeleton night shift, or on Coromodir enjoying themselves. Speaking of the capital planet, Nico gets a full view of it as he walks by a window, the sight stopping him in his tracks. He leans on the glass and watches the planet's rotation for nearly half an hour, just watching it in all of its beauty.

" _Taking care of one planet is an enormous task. Taking care of twenty-systems worth of them could drive one insane if they're not careful",_ he thought.

Finally, he radios the hangar bay telling them to ready a shuttle for him. No pilot was necessary he said, he would fly himself.

Twenty minutes later, he was heading toward the landing pad of the Royal Castle, all the while calling all of the Argo senior staff in order to hear from them what the crew thoughts were on the military offer. Meanwhile, the classical music radio channel was playing a catchy tune, one that hailed from the early 21st century of Terra.

" _ **Or you'll be left in the dust unless I stuck by ya. You're a sunflower. You're a sunflower."**_

Sometime later in the Royal Castle of the Aurigan Coalition, Kamea and Alexander were in the middle of yet another meeting, this time discussing the methods they could implement in order to stabilize the economy within the Itrom system while also discussing possible trade routes openings with the Magistracy of Canopus. They help fund the Restoration and Kamea only felt it was right for them to be first on the list for trading goods.

But mostly it has been Alexander and the economy specialists doing all of the talking while the future High Lady was currently reading over a document…

Only that her eyes weren't moving at all.

" _Did I come on too strong with my offer to Nico?_ _I admit the crown throwing might have been a bit much._ _Maybe I should have back off a little. Perhaps I should contact him and_ _negotiate my offer in a different manner._ _I was genuine when I said that the Reach needs him here_ _",_ she tells herself, completely ignoring the meeting at hand, " _I didn't feel this much anxiety during the war but wondering whether or not a mercenary will say yes or no has me fretting."_

She glances up for a moment to see Alexander and one of the experts arguing over lowering taxes for one of Itrom's moons before going back to her thoughts.

" _Surely, he will take me up on it. It's a most generous offer that any level-headed mercenary would jump on in a heartbeat."_

There is a pause in her thoughts as she reconsiders those words.

" _Level-headed mercenary,_ _that was a fine joke. Nico is anything but that. No sane mechwarrior would insult a craze, bloodthirsty, Commodore of the Concord Navy over the radio frequency and then broadcast his exact location while also challenging said Commodore to a duel in order to just buy time",_ as she remembers back to that terrible day on this very planet where Samuel Ostergaard rage his own personal war against the Restoration. Farah, as talented as she is, was unable to upload the  _Locura_ virus in time thus the grief-stricken commander was able to get his forces in position to drop onto the battlefield.

Only through the intervention of Nico himself were they able to emerge victoriously and she'll never forget that day as long as she lives.

_**Flashback** _

_**(Unlike the game, Nico and most of his crew are on Coromodir while Farah and Dekker's lance are on Lyris)** _

" _All forces, prepare to drop. Your orders are clear; wipe out the Restoration, stay out of the areas mark for bombardment, and bring Lady Kamea to me, alive if possible. If not, then bring me her head. Then maybe, my son can finally rest in peace", Commodore Ostergaard orders over the radio frequency just as the Iberia appear over the battlefield._

" _Farah! What the status on the upload?!", Kamea call over the comms._

" _I reach a snag and I'm trying to work around it!", Farah responds in a panic._

" _We don't have time for this! We need it uploaded now!", Darius scream._

" _I just need a little more time, maybe ten minutes!", Farah says._

" _We don't have ten minutes! I don't think we even have one minute. Pretty soon the skies are going to be filled with drop pods and artillery strikes!", Surmire yells._

" _And the Restoration will end right here!", Kamea added, "I need the Iberia brought down now!"_

" _I'm working as fast as I can! I can only do so much in such a small window people!", Farah tells everyone._

" _Prepare the guns for blanket bombardment and the battlemechs for ground deployment", Ostergaard ordered._

" _Sir, everything is awaiting your command", a nearby officer relay._

" _Good, commence destruction of the Restoration in five...four...three...", Ostergaard began to count._

" _This is it", everyone thought while the commander of the **Dragon Raiders** continues to remain quiet throughout all of this._

" _Two...on-", Ostergaard continued._

" _Your son died a coward's death, begging for his life with tears in his eyes. I wouldn't waste any more words on him if I would you", Nico's voice suddenly broke through, silencing all chatter on the frequency._

_All across the battlefield, everything came to a sudden halt. On the ground and in space, shock expressions adorned the faces of almost every combatant who was on the comm lines, including Kamea who turns her mech to gawks over at Nico._

_After a few moments of tense silence though…_

" _What...did you say, mercenary?", Ostergaard finally spat._

" _I've heard tales of the soldiers of the Taurian Concordat and how they are fearless in the face of death. I guess your son was on the low end of the totem pole when it came to that little detail", Nico press on, "Men like him deserve nothing more than an undignified death and an unmarked grave out here in the Periphery."_

" _Identify yourself, scum", Ostergaard states and you could hear him literally trying to keep his anger in check and failing at it._

" _I am Nico Strong, commander of the **Dragon Raiders,** a mercenary in the Restoration Army, and the man who pulled the trigger that ended your son's pathetic life, even as he beg me not too.", he said proudly, "I watch his ship go up in flames and I felt no pity at all for such a lowly bug. Even if Lady Kamea told me not too, I would have destroyed his dropship, if only to do humanity a favor and take him out of the gene pool."_

_Kamea couldn't believe what she was hearing. What was Nico thinking?_

" _I am sending you the exact coordinates of my position here on Coromadir", Nico suddenly states._

" _What the hell are you thinking?!", fills his comms as Kamea roars at him but he ignores her._

" _You now have three options, Commodore. One, you can wipe me out with your gunship. Two, you could send your men to take me out. And finally, you can show me that Samuel didn't inherit his cowardliness from you and come face me yourself. I hear that you are an acclaim mech pilot, prove it to me on the battlefield", Nico declares._

_Tense seconds pass by, everyone who had just heard the exchange waiting on bated breath._

…

…

_Finally, a calm yet fury-filled voice come over the frequency._

" _Mech bay, prepare my **Atlas.**  Command Lance, make ready for combat drop."_

_On a secure line that was linked directly with Kamea and the crew of the Argo, Nico delivers a message._

" _I got you the time you need, Farah. I suggest you make good use of it. Behemoth, Medusa, have your lances form up into one combine lance with Archangel in command and Ronin as his second. After that, form up on me. Glitch, have your lance link up with Kamea's lance and watch her back. Everyone get ready, we're in for one hell of a fight."_

**End of Flashback**

A resounding knock shakes Kamea out of her thoughts as a royal guard enters the room.

"My Lady, your presence has been requested in your stateroom", he says, "How shall I relay your reply?"

"Tell them to that the Lady Kamea is busy at the moment", Alexander tells the guard only to see Kamea give a nod, agreeing with him.

"I will inform the mercenary commander at once then", the guard bows only to look back up once he hears the sound of a chair being push back abruptly and witness the leader of the Reach standing up straight.

"Alexander, see to the rest of this meeting", she orders as she is already making her way out of the room not even waiting to hear her right hand's response.

She makes her way down the hall, flanked on both sides by guards and arrives at her stateroom. She instructs the guards to stay outside and proceeds to enter, where she finds Nico once more sitting on the edge of the desk, lighting up a cigarette.

"I'll tell you one thing, Kamea. You should do know how to give my guys an offer they can't refuse", as he takes a long puff and exhales, "My whole crew onboard with the idea."

"I'm happy to hear that", Kamea tells him as she moves closer to him, staring at him for a moment before continuing on, "But what is your answer?"

Smokes dances between the two, slightly irritated Kamea's nose but she nevertheless ignores it. The two mechwarriors had a stare off for what seems like hours, each taking in the other's features. Nico picks up on the usual trend of Kamea wearing the same type of clothes he saw her in when she first came onboard the  _Leopard_ two years ago, just after the recovery of the Argo from the pirates.

" _Maybe she is trying to get as much out of them as she can before she becomes High Lady_ _",_ he thought off-handily as he directs his mind back to the answer that Kamea was waiting for. One that, now that he was standing in front of her, he was unsure he could answer.

Sure, the crew was all onboard with the idea. The main reasoning being that; hell, they have been fighting for the Aurigan Coalition for two years, might as well accept their offer to make it official and have somehow of a stable life.

But that wasn't good enough for Kamea and Nico had a subtle suspicion that while she highly valued the entire crew of the Argo, he could have just stayed and that would have satisfied her just fine.

"Well, I-", he starts before Kamea suddenly throws a hand up, silencing him.

"Wait, not here", she says before turning around, "Follow me", and she exits the room.

Nico stands there for a moment, baffled by what just occurred. He takes another long puff of his cigarette and follows the High Lady through the long corridor of the palace, tossing the smoke into a nearby trash bin as the royal bodyguard form behind him.

The duo spoke not a word to each other as they walk, the only source of interaction from either of them being Kamea when she greeted some minor nobility in the hallways as they walk by. They bow to Lady Kamea but turn their heads in a huff upon seeing Nico.

Ignoring these as best he could, Nico soon finds himself entering the Royal Gardens, a place that reminded him of all of the jungle battles he has fought in even before the civil war. The entire area was cover in exotic flowers, some Nico had only seen or heard of in books and holo-videos. The guards had placed themselves at the entrance to the gardens, so it was just him and Kamea. As he turns a corner with her the sudden greenery of the garden was replaced with a sea of yellow that made him believe for a moment that he was staring at the sun. Only after gaining his senses did he notice that he was in a vast area of the gardens completely cover in sunflowers, a rare flower that was only native to Terra and even there they were rare.

"How did you..?", he asks as the song from the shuttle instantly comes back to him.

"My mother visited Terra once when she was a little girl and fell in love with sunflowers. So much that my father paid a large amount of money to get the seeds delivered here so she could grow her very own collection of them", Kamea answers as she walks along the small path, her hand gently touching the pellets of the flowers. She gets up to a set of stone benches which laid in the middle of the field and once there she takes a seat and looks out around the garden. Nico, on the other hand, remain standing giving her a moment, taking in the view.

"You know, the people are calling me a hero", she started after a short wait, a smile appearing on her face "The one who brought an end to the tyranny of the Directorate and restore the Coalition, returning peace and freedom to the Aurigan Reach. The Protector of Coromodir and The Sword of Restoration. Those are the stories being spread among my people."

Nico then feels the mood darken before he could comment and Kamea's expression change, "But I am not a hero, despite what the stories may say. A hero would have sacrificed more, compromise less. A hero would have done better", as she looks up toward Nico, "You know this, of course. You were there."

Kamea stands up slowly and strolls over to the edge of the garden, where a scenic view of the capital could be seen. She motions a hand to the spot next to her, silencing asking Nico to join her. Once he made his way over she began to speak again.

"Here in this very garden, my father used to tell me stories about the ancient times, about the Star League. A golden age of prosperity, upheld by the great mechwarriors of old. They were the guardians of the innocent, protectors of the peace!", she joyfully explains as she clasps a hand to her heart and gazes up at the sky, her eyes lit up like stars, "I've always dream of following in their footsteps!"

Nico felts like he was watching a different Kamea at this very moment. One who was reliving the happy memories of her childhood, a place where her parents were still alive and where Santiago Espinosa and Victoria were still her trusted family.

"But I was too young to see the truth of things", she said as her eyes cast downward and all warmth left her voice, "After all, it wasn't heroism or a noble cause that won me the throne. It was hiring a mercenary skilled enough, ruthless enough, to carry the day", as she turns to Nico once more, "Hiring you."

Nico gave no reply to the accusations about his ruthlessness on the battlefield, for he saw no reason to defend himself. He was a mercenary and they weren't known for their acts of mercy. Now while he doesn't go around shooting civilians he has no problem taking out an enemy even if they're begging for their life. He proved that point on that day with the Newgrange.

"To this day", Kamea started up, "I still don't fully know if you fought for honor or for the thrill of it. For belief in my cause, or just in my money."

" _Funny how I'm still wondering that myself",_ Nico thought as he continues to look down at Kamea.

"But whether it was your noble's heart or mercenary's mind….", Kamea found herself stopping, taking the few extra moments to choose her next words wisely, "Your actions gave us hope. That makes you a hero in the eyes of history. Whether you believe it...that's up to you, my friend."

Once more, nothing but silence passes between the two pilots, both coming from noble lineage, both students of Raju "Mastiff" Montgomery.

"Now you can tell me your answer", the ruler of the Reach states, "Will you stay or will you leave? But know that whatever choice you make, you will always be known as a hero of the people here in the Reach, at least as long as I rule."

Nico merely observes Kamea for a moment before taking a deep breath and lighting up another cigarette.

He lets off a few puffs before looking down at the closest sunflower, the one right between him and Kamea. He bends over, plucks it from its stem and holds it up to her face.

"You're like this sunflower. Fragile, delicate, needing someone else to protect you so that you'll be able to grow."

Kamea opens her mouth, but this time, it was she who was stopped by Nico raising a hand.

"It doesn't mean you're weak, it just means you need a hand so you'll be able to become something more. And seeing how Raju's last words to me on that fateful day five years ago was to take care of you, I guess I'm that hand you need", Nico finish, "Because I feel that if I'm not here by your side, you'll be left in the dust out here in the Periphery."

A small smile starts to form on Kamea's lips and she slowly brings her hand out to the ace mechwarrior and without hesitation he takes it and the two share a firm handshake, sealing the deal.

"You have the  _ **Dragon Raiders,**_ the Argo, and myself at your command, Lady Kamea. I pray that you don't come to regret this decision."

"This isn't the formal way of doing this type of thing but it will have to do for now", Kamea replies, "Welcome to the Armed Forces of the Aurigan Coalition, Nic-no. Colonel Strong."

_And thus begins the story of the Dragon_

_Defender of the Reach_

_Only destruction and death awaits all who would stand in his way._

_For he is always moving forward_

_And never looking back._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is kind of awkward. You know that preview I posted earlier? Well, by the time I realize where I was in writing the chapter, I already had around 9000 words and I haven't even gotten to the coronation yet. So this chapter and the next involve no action but chapter 5 will.

**Chapter 3**

**Bringing the Dragon Up To Par**

The duo made their way back through the halls of the Royal Palace, flank in both the front and rear by the Royal Guard all the while Kamea was punching information into her data slate while rambling off a list of changes that Nico was going to have to implement onto the Dragon Raiders.

"We're going have to somehow incorporate your company's logo with Coalition's colors but still allow it to be recognizable to the public for morale purposes", she states.

"Kamea", Nico says.

"I suppose we could allow you to keep your mechs' color scheme all black seeing how you're special forces and it will definitely help you avoid detection should the need arise."

"Kamea", his voice getting a little louder.

"Actually when you stop and think about, finding a military mech suit big enough to fit Behemoth is going to be the hardest obstacles to overcome, a woman her size is a rarity out here in the Reach."

"Kamea!", Nico yells as he puts a hand on her shoulder and spins her around to face him. The sound of safeties being switch off and guns cocking remind Nico of his surroundings as Kamea's hand shoots up to stop her guards from doing anything hasty as they all point their guns at the mechwarrior.

"Captain Saber", she calmly addresses the Royal Guard closest to her, "You and your men are free to return to your posts. I will summon you again when I am done with my meeting with Colonel Strong."

A moment of silence passes with the guards still having their guns focus on Nico, not a single one of them willing to take their sights off of him. During this time, Nico slowly moves his hand off of the future High Lady's shoulder and put it into the air. It was at this moment that he notices some of the guards' eyes flicker downward toward his waist every few seconds. Following their line of sight, the now colonel realize that the hand that didn't go on Kamea's shoulder was still grabbing the grip of his Laser Pistol for all the good it would have done for him in this situation.

" _Pure reflex,_ _must have happened when I heard the guns cock_ _",_ he tells himself as he takes his hand off of his grip, " _Can't even begin to count how many times it has saved my life"_

"Captain Saber", Kamea says again, this time with more force in her voice, "Return to your post."

The man makes the signal of his hand closing into a fist and all of the guards holster their guns and disperse, leaving Kamea and Nico alone in the hallway.

Kamea turns and marches down the hallway toward her main office with Nico following close behind her. She enters without a word and closes the door once the mech pilot comes through.

Nico turns around to say something but stops upon finding Kamea directly behind him, glaring up at him.

"Nico, know that I am extremely grateful for everything you have done for me and also know that I consider you a friend despite what you may believe sometimes", she started in a low voice, "But from here on out you are going to be require to understand certain procedures and protocols of an official military."

"Let me guess", Nico started.

"It's Lady Kamea, soon to be High Lady Kamea, whenever we are around anyone besides just Alexander", Kamea said before pondering on something for a moment, "And I suppose whenever we are alone with the senior staff of the Argo, I consider them close friends as well but I'll need you to inform them that any other time they are to use my title. Also, know that my future fiance is the only male allow to touch me, unless under extreme circumstances. Not even Alexander can do that now."

"With the whole name thing, is that going to change down the line?", Nico wonders.

"I see no reason why it would, now onto other matters", Kamea says as she walks over to her desk, "First and foremost, we need to discuss the changes to the Argo."

"What changes?", Nico asks.

"Well, first off, it's going to be upgraded", Kamea answers, "And by that, I mean it will actually have weapons added to it along with it being resized to fit a larger crew."

"How much larger of a crew are you talking about?" ask Nico just to have Kamea throws a thumb to the balcony behind her.

**Moments Later**

"What the hell is this?!", Nico yells at Kamea while pointing down to the vast courtyard of the Royal Palace where a large formation of Aurigan Coalition soldiers was standing at attention.

"That is four companies worth of the most seasoned troops of the Aurigan Restoration now of the Coalition. Eight hundred men who will embark on the Argo as a permanent army detachment all standing by for inspection by the Head Captain of my Royal Guard", Kamea answers, "Their main objectives will be ship boarding and establishing beachheads in front of a main attacking force.", she said only to notice the look that she was receiving from Nico, "They were here to get inspected anyway even before you made your decision, I swear. They'll be providing the extra security for the coronation, as well."

"Be that as it may, that's still larger than my current crew! There's no way the Argo is going to be able to fit them all!"

"All of them and more once the modifications are done", Kamea boasted, "I mean, I'm still lacking a full company to bring the Argo's army detachment up to regiment size and that's not even counting the aerospace fighters, their vehicles, or even the special forces ground units you will be taking on as well."

Nico only stares at Kamea in shock as she rambles off once more, "H-How many people are we talking about here?"

Kamea stops for a moment and puts her hand on her chin in thought, "Well, Alexander and I ran the possible numbers yesterday after you left-?

"You mean before I made my decision?", Nico questions.

"It was a fifty-fifty chance you say yes so we thought it best that we get the numbers in order just in case", Kamea says, "Anyway, let's see, with all of the infantry, aerospace fighters, their support and logistics, along with other elements that should bring your overall crew to just around thirty one hundred men and women, give or take three dozen."

A resounding slap to his own forehead was Nico's response, "That's more than triple the max capacity of the Argo."

The future High Lady nodded her head, "In its current state, yes, but Alexander found some old blueprints of the original Argo design and it shows that a lot of space can be open up to carrying more personnel and equipment."

"You're not getting rid of the pool", Nico growls all of a sudden.

"I'm not getting rid of the pool", Kamea repeats.

"Or the library, or the garden, or the lounge, or the arcade, or the gym", Nico listed off only to be stopped by the woman next to him.

"All that gets to stay, I swear", Kamea promises, "We'll just be adding more space to the Argo along with moving some stuff around. Should only take about two months to complete."

The Dragon of the Reach raises an eyebrow in disbelief, "That's a pretty short time for major renovations."

"It will be Coromodir's shipyards primarily focus. Though not as large as the ones at Tyrlon, they'll get the job done. Alexander is on his way there now, but he just messages me in the hallway that the yards crews are standing by and making preparations even as we speak. They're just waiting on...", Kamea then turns her eyes toward the communicate device Nico had on his wrist, "You know, for the ship to show up."

Nico easily picks up on the hint and rolls his eyes as he brings it up to his mouth, "Argo, this is Dragon. I repeat, Argo, this is Dragon."

After a few moments of static, a voice cuts through, "Dragon, this is Argo. What do you need?"

"Sumire, bring the Argo into the Coromodir's shipyards for military refitting and modifications", Nico command and readies himself for the response.

"Does this mean what I think it means?", the navigator asks and Nico could feel her smirking.

"Yes", Nico sighs, "Yes, it does", as he tries to ignore the smile that was forming on Kamea's face as well, "Might as well make this official…."

Nico takes a breath for speaking, praying to God that the next words out of his mouth sounded better out loud then they did in his head as he processed to give his first official order as an officer of the Aurigan Coalition….

" _ **Commander Meyer, you have my permission to bring the ACS Argo around to the**_ _ **Coromodir's**_ _ **shipyard, that's an order. Colonel Strong, out."**_

Roars of laughter and cheer could be heard on the other end and Nico quickly figures out that quite possibly his entire senior staff and then some were on the ship's bridge listening in.

"Oh, they're going to have such fun when I get back", he grumbles before turning his attention to a chuckling Kamea, "You too?"

"It's good to see them in such high spirits. They no doubt deserve to be", she states and she turns around to walk back inside, "Now regarding the new command structure of the Argo...", she stated before a knock at her door interrupted her.

"Enter", she declares and a royal guard enters the room alongside a woman who looked vaguely familiar to Nico. She had chestnut brown hair wrapped up into a small bun with dark blue eyes that reminded the mech pilot of the ocean. She stood around Kamea's height though she was a bit thinner than the Lady of the Reach. She was deck out in an army uniform and carried the rank of captain; amazing seeing how she looked to be a bit younger than Nico.

As the guard turns and leaves the woman pops to attention and salutes, "Lady Kamea, Captain Karen Andris reporting as order!"

Nico's eyes widen slightly upon hearing the name, " _That sounds familiar",_ as he ponders the name.

"Ah, captain, you're early", Kamea states as she takes a look at the clock on the wall, "I wasn't expecting you for another fifteen minutes."

The captain drops her salute, "Ma'am, I figure that you have other matters to attend to, so I took the initiative to see if I could get our business out of the way so you could attend to them, Ma'am!"

"Hmm, initiative, I like that", Kamea says before turning her attention to Nico, "I'm sure you're familiar with Nico Strong of the Dragon Raiders", she says.

"Ma'am, I am quite familiar with the Dragon of the Reach, the Hero of the civil war, as is everyone, ma'am!", Karen replies, still at attention.

Nico snaps his fingers and points at the captain, "You were the one I was talking to at the spaceport of Panzyr; a lieutenant with the 2nd Decimis Fusiliers and you ask me to protect your troops."

Captain Andris' face light up and Nico swore that he saw her eyes sparkle.

"I-I didn't think you would remember me", she confesses, "I'm honored."

"You asks me, a mercenary, to protect your wounded men. Any military officer who is willing to swallow their pride for that is okay in my books", Nico tells her.

"Thank you, Mr. Strong", she answers with gratitude as she slightly bows, "From me and my men that day. All of them live to fight on in the civil war because of what you did even though you didn't have to."

Nico simply nods before turning his head to Kamea, "You had something to tell her, Lady Kamea?"

"Oh, yes. She is one of the liaisons for her division during their turnover to House Arano", Kamea answered, internally relieved that he remember to use her title.

"Excuse me?", Nico says.

"House Arano's forces were devastated in the war, but House Decimis' forces are mostly intact to a degree, so as a show of good faith, Lord Decimis is giving me the revived 2nd Decimis Fusiliers to bolster my forces", Lady Kamea explains, "Though I will allow them to keep the Decimis part of their name for unit heritage reason."

Nico stares at Kamea for a moment, "Can I speak to you outside for a moment, Lady Kamea?"

"Captain Andris, wait here for a moment, will you? Make yourself comfortable", Kamea says.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!", was the replied from the officer as she sat down at the couch while Nico and Kamea made their way outside once more, closing the door behind them.

"That is suspiciously gracious of him to give you a full army division just like that", the mechwarrior points out as he leans on the rails and looks down at Kamea.

"Not everyone is out to stab me in the back, Nico. He offered it to be in front of the of Founding Houses the other day and I couldn't exactly tell him no or else I would have seemed paranoid to them", Kamea explains while looking out toward the city, "I have to trust the new heads of the nobility or else another civil war might break out or worse, I look weak to the Taurian or the Capellan."

"So you're just going to trust them like that?"

"One hundred percent?, No.", Kamea says, "But to a degree that makes it look like I completely trust them but I will be keeping an eye on them."

"I guess that's something", Nico says, "Be careful, politics is just as dangerous of the battlefield."

"Trust me, I learn that lesson during the war", Kamea says as she walks back inside and Captain Karen shoots up off of the couch.

"Now concerning you and your company posting here on Coromodir, captain", Kamea began, "To be honest, while most of your division have already been assign we're still trying to figure out an appropriate posting for you and your men. Most of the outposts and bases are at max capacity, so you might be filling a-"

"How about you put her company on the Argo?", Nico suddenly interrupts causing both women to turn their attention to him.

"I beg your pardon?", Kamea says.

"Put her and her company on the Argo", Nico repeated, "You said you were looking for one last company to put on; why not her and her men? I could use good soldiers like them."

Silence passes for a moment between the trio.

"Um, Mr. Strong", Captain Andris slowly starts, "I don't mean to be rude, but it's going to be hard for me to fulfill my duties if I'm on a mercenary ship."

"Oh, that's right, you haven't heard the news", Nico says as he turns and smiles at Kamea, "Perhaps it would be best for you to tell her, my lady."

Moments later, the captain nearly stumbles out of the head office of Lady Kamea and quietly goes down the hall, a thousand-yard stare etch into her face. If one was close enough to her, they would hear quiet mumbling emitting from her lips.

"I-I just got put on the Dragon of the Reach's ship and he is now my superior officer", she says before her face suddenly lights up and she starts jumping up and down in a matter unbecoming of an officer in uniform, "And he remembers who I am!"

Back in the office Nico and Kamea were struggling to keep a straight face after hearing the captain's outburst in the hallway.

"Well, she seems happy", the mechcommander comments while shaking his head.

"I'm sure she will fit in quite nicely with your crew on the Argo", Kamea adds.

"Speaking of which, I should probably be heading back in order to make sure this transition goes smoothly."

"Oh, we should take the Royal Shuttle", Lady Kamea recommended, "I have to go there myself to speak with the shipyard manager."

Nico turns to look at Kamea with an annoyed expression, "Won't that require a ton of unnecessary procedures, security, and preparation?"

"I am the future High Lady of the Reach in case you forgot. It comes with the territory."

"Yeah, but I don't have time to wait on that. Come take a ride in the shuttle I brought with me. You can call for the Royal Shuttle to come and pick you up later."

**An Hour later onboard the _ACS Argo_**

"So….", Darius started to say within the command center to all who were present, "How again is Dragon and I holding the same rank going to work out? You know, with him being a colonel and me being a navy captain."

"I'm glad you ask that Captain Olveira", Alexander answers as he pulls up a hologram display the rank structure of the Aurigan Coalition, "You see, I notice a certain trend during my time onboard during the civil war."

"That Behemoth benches more weight than any man on the ship, but somehow was the one who came up with the monthly "Girl's Night" gathering in the lounge?", Medusa says only to dodge a coffee cup thrown at him by the large woman, "What? We were all thinking it!"

"Fuck you!", the mech pilot responds while flipping him the bird.

"No", the head of House Madeira answers but after a moment, "Actually yes, the thought did cross my mind far longer than it should have."

A glare from Behemoth quickly puts the meeting right on track.

"Anyway, what I saw was a unique style of leadership never before seen out here in the Reach", Alexander continue, "One where Darius was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the ship while Nico was in charge of combat, which just so happens to be a major role in your job."

"But Dragon was still overall in charge", Glitch points out, "So I don't see the point in all this."

"Well, Captain Chernovskaya", Alexander started only to be silent upon a girlish squeal escaping from the 3rd Lance Commander's lips and resounding throughout the command center.

….

"Um… Do I do something wrong?"

"She's has been doing that ever since Dragon told us that he had accepted the deal. She has been having everyone put captain at the front of her name and she squeals like a schoolgirl when they do", Yang answered while rolling his eyes, "She somehow even got a name plaque already on the door to her room."

"Oh", Alexander says, taken slightly aback, "Well at least she's embracing her new rank with enthusiasm."

"Darius had to literally provide her with a list of reasons on why it wasn't practical for her to have "Captain Glitch" embroil on every mech we have in case she has to pilot it", Dekker finished.

"But then how are people going to know that I'm piloting it?", Glitch states causing Alexander to look at her in astonishment.

" _And to think that she has the most mech headshot kills behind Dragon._ _Not even the top mechwarriors in the rest of the Coalition come close to her._ _"_

"Moving on!", Feng shouts, "You were saying, Mr. Madeira?"

Alexander shakes his head and return to the matter at hand, "Yes, well, Kamea and I believe that by allowing Darius to have the same rank as Nico but belonging in a separate branch of the military, we can keep that dynamic going without undermining anyone authority, because I noticed a few times that Darius had to override Nico's decision. Mr. Strong is overall in command, but his main focus will be combat situations while Darius handles the  _rest."_

"What about the rest of the crew?", Medusa asked.

"Excluding the mechpilots, who as you know now have army ranks, all other crew members of the _Argo_ will be given naval ranks", Alexander answers.

"Okay, all problems have been addressed", Darius claps, "Y'all can start the remodeling process and we get this ball rolling."

"Actually, there is one other thing", Alexander says as he calls for his assistant and was given a stack of data-slates, "I have been tasked by Lady Kamea to bring you up to speed with military procedures."

Silence engulfs the room for a few moments before Yang and Dekker slowly raise their hands.

"I'm well aware of your military backgrounds Lieutenant-Commander Virtanen and Captain Kowalski but that was with the Confederation", the right hand of the future High Lady smiles, "The Coalition procedures are….a bit different", he states.

He hands out the data slates to everyone and started lecturing, "Now as you can see, each of the four lance commanders will retain their positional authority along with their new rank and in keeping with Lady Kamea's promise of your semi-independence, we will let you four decided the make-up of your overall lance structure command, that way-", he started before an incoming call interrupted him.

"This is Lord Madeira", he answers.

The entire senior staff of the Dragon Raiders watches in silence as the head of House Madeira's eyes slowly widen right before…

"SHE DID WHAT?!", echo throughout the command center and into the hallway outside.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4** _

_**Stuck With the Dragon** _

_**Between Coromodir and its Shipyards** _

"Once again, I would like to point out that this isn't completely my fault", Nico says from his position in the pilot's seat while Kamea sat in the co-pilot seat, "I mean, I'm a great pilot and all, but I'm still human. I simply forgot that this particular shuttle needed maintenance done on its engines", he says as he looks out the windows and watches the planet rotate as the shuttle slowly drifted above it, "But look on the bright side, the shipyard is sending someone to come get us, though it's going to take them a while to do so. But we have two days worth of oxygen and plenty of food and water."

But through all of his talking, Kamea continues to shake her head in annoyance and frustration while muttering to herself on how this was kind of her fault and how she should have just taken the Royal Shuttle to the shipyards instead of taking up the mech-commander's offer.

" _I'm not going to hear the end of this from Alexander,_ _I just know it_ _._ _This is a huge security risk I took just days before my coronation_ _along with another major factor_ _",_ she thought before turning to her newest officer, "Nico, answer me one thing, will you?"

"What's that?"

"I'm assuming that since you are from a noble house out in the Deep Periphery that you are aware of certain rules among the nobility in regards to an unmarried lady being in the presence of an unmarried man alone in a small space for an extended period of time", Kamea softly fumes.

"I'm aware of such things but I fail to see how they play a part in our current situation", Nico jokes, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Don't you dare try to make light of this, Nico!", Kamea snaps while getting out of her seat and getting in the former mercenary's face, making the Dragon smile even harder, "Don't you know what kind of rumors could start if people got the wrong idea?!"

"Oh, come on, Kamea! Remember, I offer, I didn't twist your arm to accept! You could have brought a couple of guards if you wanted!"

"I thought it was going to be a quick trip to the shipyards!", she counters, "I didn't think I would be stuck in space alone with you!"

"Well, shit happens. Besides, it's me for god's sake", Nico replies while laughing, "If I was going to try something with you, I would have done it during the civil war! God only knows how many nights we spent alone in my quarters for hours on end going over battle plans and whatnot and I never so much laid a finger on you in that type of way!"

"I know that! You know that! Hell, even Alexander knows that but other people don't!", Kamea counter, "All they see is two very attractive people stuck in a shuttle together for an unspecific amount of time!"

Nico stops smiling and turns to fully look up at Kamea, staring directly into her eyes.

"What is it, Nico?", she asks while starting to get a little uncomfortable by his stare.

…

…

"You really think you're attractive?"

**BAM!**

"Oh god, that was my nose! It was a joke!", Nico wails while cradling his nose after the punch it took from Lady Kamea.

"It was not a very good one!", the future ruler counters.

"Oh, so you can abandon a dozen worlds like it was nothing, but you can't take a joke about being called ugly?!", Nico screams but instantly regrets it as soon as the words left his mouth as Kamea's eyes widen and she slowly sits back down and stares at the window at the rotating Coromodir, a distance look now in her eyes.

Silence passes inside of the shuttle for nearly ten minutes as neither one of the former students of Raju "Mastiff" Montgomery spoke to or even look at the other. Finally, with the guilt becoming almost too much for him…

"Look", Nico started after scratching his neck in uneasiness, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I know you had to make a tough call back then and..."

"I just got the reports the other day", Kamea interrupts, her voice so quiet that Nico barely even heard it, something she has never done before, "The causalities list was the size of a mountain; one that I had to climb in order to get back the throne."

"It wasn't your fault", Nico try to tell her, "War is never pretty nor fair."

"Yes, but I could have done more to help them!", she shouts as she slams her fist on the window, "Those were my people I abandon! The same people that I was fighting for!"

"Getting yourself killed wouldn't have help anyone", Nico counters, "Trust me, I know what it's like to make a tough call, but you have to learn to live with the decision and pray that it was all worth it."

"And was it?", Kamea asks as she leans over and laid her face into her hands, "I lost my uncle, my cousin, Raju and I almost lost Alexander. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been for the best to listen to my uncle that day he came to me after my parents' death and ask me to take on a more authoritarian stance for the Coalition. Would I have avoided all this bloodshed if I had?"

Nico shrugs, "You'll never know and sometimes it's best not knowing the road not travel."

"And maybe sometimes it is", Kamea added.

The shuttle delves into silence once more between the two pilots, the beeping of the console the only sound to be heard.

"Hey, Kamea", Nico started up, "I have been wondering about something ever since the Argo's retrieval."

"Nico, I'm really not in the mood for conversation right now," said the lady as she lifts her head up.

"Well, you got anything better to do?", Nico asks before raising an eyebrow with plastering a seductive smile on his lips, "I mean unless you have a more….strenuous way to pass the time in mind."

"I'm going to pretend that was another foolish attempt at a bad joke", Kamea growls, "What do you want to know, ~colonel~?

"Ah, you're no fun. But anyway; I want to know why did you pick the Dragon's Raiders and me?", he asks as a serious expression now appears in the wake of his smile, "We weren't exactly the big dogs around the frontier at the time, especially in terms of numbers. It was just the lance captains and me as the only mech pilots."

Kamea looks at the Dragon of the Reach, the hero of the Aurigan Civil War with an unreadable expression on her face.

"You had the Magistracy of Canopus bankrolling you. You could have easily hired an Inner Sphere mercenary group", Nico press on, "So why us? I knew you for about half a week before the coup happen."

Kamea takes a moment to contemplate her answer before talking, "To be honest, you're right. We didn't know each other that well before my uncle's coup. But you had something that no other mercenary commander had. Something that I needed."

"And what was that?"

"A personal stake in all of this. From what Raju told me about you, you two were close, like father and son", Kamea said, "And I had a gut feeling that if I presented the opportunity for you to get your revenge you would hop on it."

"Well, you were right about that", Nico said after a moment, nodding his head in agreement, "When you presented the chance for me to get some payback, I jump onboard your restoration without a second thought."

"And I was hoping for that for it also meant that my uncle and cousin couldn't buy you out once you started becoming a thorn in their side", Kamea states, causing Nico to stare at her in confusion, "I read through their classified military files. They were in the process of dedicating seasoned veteran lances, hiring on other mercenary companies, and were even creating an entire task-force whose sole purposes was to wipe you and the Raiders out along with a back-up plan to simply bribe you to switch sides."

The ace pilot's eyes now widen in surprise, "I guess I should feel honored. I mean, I never truly realize how much of a threat the Directorate saw us as."

This actually causes Kamea to raise an eyebrow, "You do remember the rant Victoria went on at Anvelt, don't you? A good part of it was directed at you."

The man known as Dragon simply shrugged, "I thought it was because I just defeated her in mech combat", he states as he clenches his hands, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Kamea.

….

"You're still upset, aren't you?", she asks as she takes notes of his body slightly shaking.

"I still think you should have let me finish her off that day", Nico replies, his eyes now staring ahead out into the vastness of space, "Or at the very least not turn her over to Lord Karosas. The  _Argo_ couldn't have kept her but you could have."

"I had to give her over to Lord Karosas to fully gain his support, it was the only way", Kamea stated.

"You and I both know that's a lie. You couldn't bring yourself to kill your own flesh and blood, at least not at that very moment", Nico countered as he turns once again to look at her, "And you knew that Karosas would have kept her alive until after the war and she was given a public trial."

The soon-to-be High Lady of the Aurigan Reach took a deep breath and slowly exhales, "I was going to work out a plea deal at that point to have Victoria turn over to House Arano's custody."

"Let me take a wild guess", Nico slightly snarls, his blood beginning to rise, "You were going to have her under house arrest for the rest of her days, weren't you?"

Small teardrops started to form in Kamea's eyes, "I couldn't do it. Back then, I couldn't bring myself to kill her. She was my cousin, my family. And by showing some sympathies, it caused me a powerful ally and for the war to drag on longer."

Nico found himself taken slightly aback by the sight of seeing Kamea crying, even if it was just teardrops slowly streaming down her face. For as long as he has known her, she always presented a strong front, a leader with the will to carry forward and press on no matter what the obstacle. For the second time within a day, Nico was seeing a different side of the Reach Lady, a side he has never seen before. Sure, she had her moments of weakness during the war, especially after Weldry when she discovered that if she had only launched her attack a few hours earlier, she might have saved Raju along with about two hundred more people but this was something else. Also, there was that outburst from earlier, but this was completely different.

"That all change less than a week ago at the Coliseum", Kamea kept on, her voice taking on a cold edge "When she refused to surrender and end the bloodshed and use her imprisonment of Alexander to gouge me into a fight, I knew once and for all that she was no longer the person I once knew, she was no longer my cousin", as she brings her arm up to wipe away her tears, "She was just another enemy standing in my way."

During his time as an exile on the frontier and during his years as a mercenary, Nico Strong aka Dragon has learned to notice things that the average person would overlook, as it often would save his life. Like where on a mech the armor wasn't at its strongest or when a person's body language betrayed their true intent.

He spots Kamea's eye flicker for a moment longer than what was normal and took note of her slouch shoulders. He notices the smallest hint of bags appearing underneath her eyes even though she had use makeup to hide it but the action of wiping her tears away have removed some of it.

"You haven't been getting much sleep, have you?", Nico asks though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"I assure you, I'm perfectly fine", Kamea tells him.

"You're going to make this difficult, huh?", Nico grumbles as he gets up and walks to the door behind him that led to the cabin area. He presses the button on the side of it and it slides open to reveal two rows of passenger seats, one on each side of the bulkhead, "If you put all the armrests up and lay down on the cushions, it makes for a comfortable enough bed."

_Blink._

_Blink._

_Blink._

That was all Kamea Arano of House Arano could do as she stare wide-eyed back at the mechpilot ace whose callsign was that of the mystical beast of destruction.

"Well, it seems that I might have to get my hearing check because I could have sworn that I just heard you suggest that I use some passengers seats as a makeshift bed", she says.

"That's exactly what I suggested", Nico replies.

"So you're saying that I, the future High Lady of the Aurigan Coalition, the head of House Arano, and the next ruler of the Aurigan Reach, should sleep in the passenger's seats of a common shuttle?"

"You rather sleep on the floor?"

"I rather not sleep anywhere because I don't have time to!", Kamea snaps, her patience at its wit's end. These past few minutes with Nico have been nothing but a roller coaster of emotions and she had just about had enough. Any other non-general rank officer would have had their commission pulled if they have done the things that the ace mechpilot had, "I have to formulate a plan to lower taxes in the outer systems near the frontier without affecting the economic infrastructure while somehow finding a way to round up enough troops to reinforce the systems on the Taurian border!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure the Coalition isn't going to fall apart while you get a couple of hours of shuteye", Nico says as he presses his hand down on the nearest cushion, "Seriously, look how soft that looks."

Kamea's fingers go straight to her temple and she begins to massage them in an attempt to calm herself, "I don't need any sleep! I'm perfectly fi-", her rant was cut short by a long yawn that stretches on for a couple of seconds, a clear indication of her lack of rest as well as a counter to any arguments she had planned to throw at Nico regarding her sleeping habits as of late.

She didn't even have to look at the former mercenary to know that he was smirking instead she focuses her attention on the row of seats that he was standing next to through her heavy bagged eyes.

"There are quite comfy, trust me", Nico says.

"How long until the rescue shuttle reaches us?", Kamea asks while still looking at the seats, prompting Nico to take a look at his watch.

"Well, they said that it would take them six hours to get here due to us being on the other side of the planet and that was about fifteen minutes ago", he finally answers.

Kamea mulls over something in her head for a moment before standing up and moving to the back of the shuttle. Nico steps out of her way and stands silently for a moment as the next ruler of the Reach looks down of the seats, her eyes never leaving them.

"You tell no one of this, am I clear?", Kamea orders.

"Only you and I will know about this, I swear", Nico promises her as he reaches into a nearby drawer in the wall and pulls out an emergency space blanket, "This will keep you warm enough so that you'll fall asleep faster."

Kamea snatches the blanket out of his hands and quickly makes herself comfortable on the row of seats. She turns around to stare up at Nico and points a finger at him.

"If you try to take advantage of me while I'm sleeping, I will personally castrate you", she threatens, "Dragon of the Reach be damn."

Nico merely chuckles as he walks back to the shuttle's cockpit, "Have a nice nap, Lady Kamea."

Within moments, Nico was back in the pilot's seat and the soft snoring of the future High Lady could be heard from behind him in the cabin.

He shakes his head and moves to light up a cigarette when a beacon lit up on the control console in front of him, indicating an incoming call.

"Wonder who this is?", Nico says to himself right before pushing the button, "This the  _ACS Argo_ shuttle-"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!", erupts through the comm link as Alexander's face appears on a holo-screen, startling Nico. Acting quickly, he lowers the volume on the comms and cases a glance behind him to make sure Kamea was still sleeping. She stirs in her sleep for a moment, but other than that she was still knock out.

Letting out a breath, he turns to face Lord Madeira who actually looked quite intimidating with the snarl on his lips and along with his heavy breathing, a feat Nico didn't think was possible for the Aurigan noble.

"Hey, Alexander", Nico starts out but that was as far as he got.

"Don't "hey" me! Do you have any idea the kind of security and public image nightmare you have just created?! You got the next ruler of the Coalition floating in space in a common shuttle alone with a male mercenary!"

"Former mercenary, next head of the Aurigan Military Special Forces and the hero of the civil war, all thanks to you in case you forgot", Nico reminded him with a stern look, though deep down he was actually impressed to see this side of Alexander. In the back of his mind, he always thought he was kind of a pushover in some ways.

"Be that as it made, you have no idea the issues this incident is going to cause", Alexander started again, this time treading lightly around the mech commander, "I already heard about what happened in the hallways of the Royal Palace-"

"How the fuck did you already hear about that? That happen like only two hours ago", Nico questions, his suspicious rising.

"Don't freak out, Kamea told me herself", Alexander said, "Trust me, I'm the only true friend Kamea has, I'm not going to spy or backstab her"

"Yes, but you do have a family and that's a liability", Nico tells him, "I've seen strong bonds of friendship break when it comes to family before."

The two men stare in silence for a moment before Alexander spoke again…

"Moving on", he said in a restrained voice, "Where is Kamea?"

"She's sleeping."

….

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"She's sleeping in the back."

"Nico, I have been in the  _Argo_ shuttles and as far as I know, none of them have a bed in the back", Alexander explained.

"You're right, none of them do", Nico confirms as he already knew what was coming next.

"Then where is Kamea sleeping?"

"I'll give you three guesses and here's the only clue: It's not on the floor", Nico smiles.

Alexander slowly takes his glasses off and rub his hand down his face before speaking again only this time it was in a low voice that barely concealed his fury, "Is she at least comfortable?"

"If my guess is correct this is probably going to be the most sleep she has gotten since the war ended, no thanks to you. So yes, she is comfortable", Nico says as he finally lights his cigarette and takes a puff.

"I beg your pardon."

Nico exhales a cloud of smoke into the holo-screen, "You know, Kamea doesn't have to be at every single meeting, you could take some over for her so she can get more sleep."

"If you must know, she requests that she be present at every meeting that involves the resurrection of the Coalition", Alexander explains.

"Then convince her that she doesn't have to be", Nico counters, "You're her best friend, Alexander. She'll listen to you."

"Apparently she'll listen to you too if you somehow manage to convince her to get on a common shuttle and take a nap within its cabin", the head of House Madeira points out.

"Touche", was Nico's response.

Alexander rubs his eyes in thought, thinking carefully on his next words.

"Look, we both know that Kamea has a long road ahead of her, in both the politically and militarily sphere. So how about we make a deal? I'll try and take the load off of her on the political side and whenever you can ease her worries on the military side", Alexander suggested.

"You're only making me a colonel, I'll doubt I'll have anywhere close to the amount of influence as you think I will", Nico said as he took another drag.

"Your reputation as "Hero of the Reach" is going to precede you wherever you go from now on, Nico, and that alone has huge amounts of influence. You now have an image to maintain and I suggest you do so wisely", Alexander tells him, "Soon enough you may draw the attention of the bigger factions."

"I doubt anyone important within the Inner Sphere cares what happen way out here", Nico confess, "To them, we're just uncivilized barbarians and I hailed from the most uncivilized place of all, the Deep Periphery."

"That remind me, Nico", Alexander says, "Kamea and I never learn anything in detail regarding your family and origins. All we know about you is that you're from a noble house on the very edge of civilization. Not even Raju told us anything beyond that."

The commanding officer of the ACS  _Argo_ stares into the eyes of Alexander Madeira, his steel eyes burning a hole into the nobleman very soul. After what seems like an eternity, his hand reaches for a button on the console, "I'll contact the Argo when the rescue shuttle gets here. I'll see you at the shipyards."

Alexander lets out a sigh before replying, "Very well, see you in a few hours, Dragon", and with that Nico cut the feed, once again leaving him alone with the sounds of the shuttle's console and Kamea's snoring.

Unfortunately, with nothing else to keep his attention, his mind started to drift back to the days before the coronation coup. Back when Raju was still alive and things were way more simple….

_**Flashback** _

"You look like shit", the battle-scarred mechwarrior laughs as he looks over the man standing in front of him at the Royal Hangar for House Arano mechs, "How you were still alive after I found your ass, I'll never know."

"Happy to see you too, you old fart", a twenty-six-year-old, bandaged up Nico Strong replied, "Moving on from that, you mind telling me why my Blackjack is seating in this fancy ass place?", as he points to his family's ancestral battlemech which was right next to them.

"Because I order it to be moved here", Raju answers, "I'm the Captain of House Arano's Guard, in case you didn't know."

Nico lets out a deep sigh, "Look, Raju, it's great to see you again after all these years and I'm thankful that you saved my life but I really should be on my way."

"Not even going to listen to the offer I have for you?"

"What offer?", Nico wondered.

"How would you like to be a Royal Guard?", Raju smirk only to laugh out loud once he saw the look Nico was giving him.

"Is this a joke?", Nico asks, "Because it's not a very good one."

"I'm completely serious", Raju tells him, "I need at least one competent pilot alongside me and you're the best student I ever had. You were a quick learner and a master of the cockpit."

"Which is funny because I wasn't the one you were originally hired to train, remember?", Nico reminds him before his mood sudden darken, something that Raju pick up on.

"Look, I heard what happen after I left", Raju says with a softer voice, "If it's any consolation, I-"

"It was bound to happen one way or another, I was becoming too popular for my own good", Nico cuts him off, "But back to this offer, don't you have to run this through the top guy in charge or something?"

"Well, no doubt you heard about the recent deaths of the High Lord and High Lady, right?", Raju started.

"Of course, it's all anyone seems to be talking about around here", Nico said as he rolls his eyes.

"Well, until their daughter is crowned High Lady, I'm in charge of all of the screening for all the new recruits to the Royal Guard and I want you for the battlemech division. Hell, I'm planning on putting you in charge of it somewhere down the line while I still maintain overall command over the mech and ground contingents."

Nico points at himself, "Me?"

"After some brushing up on proper management and leadership skills, of course", Raju admits, "I know what you were trained for that back in your family's territory but it's been a decade since you had to-"

"Let's not talk about it, okay?" Nico blurts out, the anger in his voice barely restrained.

"Okay, okay", Raju agrees while throwing his hands up, but he then spots something over Nico's shoulder, "Speak of the devil and she will appear."

Nico turns his head to see what Raju was talking about and spots two women, around his age walking through the hangar bay, surrounded by Royal Guards and aides, "That's the daughter, isn't it? The shorter one."

"That's Kamea, alright. Wasn't even two months after I left you that I was picked up to train her and her cousin, Victoria", Raju explains.

"How did that happen?", Nico questions.

"I don't know, I guess the same way I was picked up to train the pilots in your house, I killed the right people", Raju shrugs.

Nico took a good long look at Kamea Arano, taking in her features before turning around to face his old teacher, "She's easy on the eyes, I'll give her that but she gives off the "naive, little girl" vibe way too much for my liking. Still nice ass, though. I'll fuck her any-"

**BAM!**

"Son of a bitch, that was my nose and that fucking hurt!" Nico's voice echo throughout the hangar, causing everyone on the ground level to stop and look in his direction, "Why the fuck you do that?"

Raju gives his former student a hard look, waiting for him to finish clutching his nose before speaking, "I have been training Lady Kamea since she was fifteen and she has become like a daughter to me during that time."

"More like granddaughter, you old fart", Nico commented only to receive a hard slap upside the head for his trouble.

"As I was saying, she is like a daughter to me and you're like a son to me. So that makes you two siblings and I expect you to treat her as if she was your sister", Raju basically ordered Nico.

"Your logic makes no sense whatsoever. What makes you think-", Nico started before hearing a voice call from behind him.

"Captain Raju, a word if you please", causing Nico to turn around and come face to face with Lady Kamea and her entourage who were all standing only a couple of yards from him. Her reddish tint eyes lock with his chocolate brown eyes for only a second before moving to the man behind him, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Nonsense, Lady Kamea", Raju says as he walks by Nico, slightly pushing him out the way, "Just catching up on old times with my former student."

"You old piece of-", Nico started

"Think about my offer, will ya?", Raju cuts in, "You owe me that much at least", as he takes off toward Lady Kamea's group.

"I would like to discuss the security measures for the coronation with you", the heir of House Arano said as she and Raju take off walking in the other direction leaving Nico alone….or at least he would have been if Lady Victoria wasn't still standing there looking at him after the rest of the entourage took off after the future High Lady and her Captain of the Guard. For a few tense moments, the two of them had a stare off with one another, neither one willing to be the first one to look away for the other. For Nico, it felt like he was having a mech battle with her, both of them looking for the first sign of weakness in the other. Finally, after what seems like an eternity….

"Victoria, is something the matter?", Lady Kamea calls back.

The heir of House Espinosa simply smirks before abruptly turning on her heels to catch up with her cousin, leaving Nico to stare at her retreating back.

" _Those eyes",_ thought the mech pilot, " _I've seen eyes like that before."_

_**End of Flashback** _

"I wonder if anything would have changed if I said something to Raju about that time", Nico says to himself as he takes the last drag of his cigarette, "Wonder if he would still be alive."

As he flicks the butt to the floor and pulls out another one, he laughs a little, "Guess I'll never know and sometimes it's best not knowing the road not travel."

Meanwhile, while Nico was alone in his thoughts in the cockpit, Lady Kamea was having her own flashback of the distant past, only it was through her dreams.

_**Kamea's Dream** _

"Captain Raju, I have to ask", Kamea started out as she watches Nico inspect his Blackjack, "Why was your former student cradling his nose and why did you swat him in the head?"

"Oh, that? He said some things he shouldn't have, that's all", Raju explain.

"And what things were those?"

"Nothing you should worry about, Lady Kamea", Raju told her as Victoria finally join up with them. Thankfully, Kamea decided to temporarily turn her attention to her kin for a moment.

"Did Captain Raju's student offend you in some way, cousin?", Kamea asks, "You seem to have been having a stare off with him for a moment."

"Just sizing him up", Victoria smile as she looks at Raju, "I must say, it must sadden you to put so much work into a student only for him to barely qualify as a mediocre pilot, Captain Raju", she stated before she laughed.

"With respect, Lady Victoria", Raju started in an emotionless voice, "Nico is the best student I ever trained and could run circles around both you and Lady Kamea."

Both noble ladies stare agape at the war veteran, their mouths slightly drop to indicate to everyone around them their current emotion. Quickly realizing his mistake, Raju corrected himself.

"Granted, that you three are all piloting the same exact mechs and plus factoring in terrain and support, of course", he said, "Even then, it would still be a close one. And to be honest, he does have more combat experience underneath his belt due to him being a freelancer for the past decade."

For a moment, no one moved. Even the aides and bodyguards kept quiet as a silent standoff happened between the three mechwarriors.

"Ha, ha, ha!", Kamea erupted, easing the tension in the air, "Of course, that's what I thought you said! Oh, I do enjoy these talks we have, Captain!"

Raju eventually lets out a chuckle and even Victoria starts laughing again, though she was way quieter than she was before and for a brief moment, she glares at her mech teacher through cold eyes.

"Right, now about the coronation security", Kamea started, pushing Nico to the back of her mind for the moment though her thoughts did linger on his brown eyes and dragon tattoo longer than she would have cared to admit.

" _I guess he is easy on the eyes",_ she thought, " _But he's way too rugged for me, anyway."_

**Back on the Argo**

Within the command center of the  _ACS Argo,_ five figures gathered around a console, all of their faces adorned with stern expressions.

"We all know why we're here", Darius started in a solemn voice, "And we all know what must be done."

"This could be the most important decision of our lives", Dekker added, "There's no going back after this."

"We knew that before we step into this room", Behemoth said, "Everyone who is here now knows what they're getting into."

"That's right", Medusa agreed, "It's too late for second thoughts."

"Well, I suppose we should get right to it then", Glitch states, "How's this going down?"

"In the simplest way possible", Darius said as he pushes a button on the command console and an image pops up.

…

…

….

"Who wants Ronin in their lance unit?", Darius asks, only to be bombarded by a fury of shouts.

"I call dibs!", Glitch shouted out, waving her hand in the air, "She has had more drops with me than anyone else here!"

"Bullshit! I have had twice as many drops with her than you!", Behemoth shouted, "Plus, I need her long-range sniping to balance out my unit which is already going to have Archangel for melee combat!"

"What do you mean you're taking Archangel?! Because fuck that, I'm taking him!", Dekker's voice resounds through the room.

"You guys can fight over him", Medusa says, "I'll take Paradise, Showboat, and Coach for my lance!"

"You just can't take three pilots off the bat!", Glitch points out, "That's against the rules!"

Behemoth rolls her eyes, "Didn't know that there were rules for this type of thing!"

"Of course there are rules and they clearly state that you can't pick three pilots in a row just like that!", Glitch argues.

Darius rolls his eyes and puts a hand on his forehead as the four veteran mechwarriors continued to argue back and forth, "This is going to be a long yard period."

__**CO: Nico Strong "Dragon": Colonel** _ _

__**X** _ _ __**O: Darius Olveira:** _ _ __**Captain** _ _ __**(Navy)** _ _

__**Navigator: Sumire** _ _ __**Meyer** _ _ __**:** _ _ __**Commander** _ _

__**Head Mechtech: Yang Virtanen:** _ _ __**Lieutenant Commander** _ _

__**Chief Engineer: Farah** _ _ __**Murad:** _ _ __**Lieutenant Commander** _ _

__**Head Medtech: Qartio** _ _ __**Feng:** _ _ __**Lieutenant Commander** _ _

__**1st Lance Commander: M** _ _ **_iranda_ _Aguilera_ ** __**"Behemoth":** _ _ __**Captain** _ _

__**Specializes in Guts.** _ _

__**2nd Lance Commander:** _ _ _**Amir**   **Kowalski**_ __**"Dekker":** _ _ __**Captain** _ _

__**Specializes in Piloting.** _ _

__**3rd Lance Commander:** _ _ _**Jessica Chernovskaya** _ __**"Glitch":** _ _ __**Captain** _ _

__**Specializes in Gunnery.** _ _

__**4th Lance Commander:** _ _ **_Mohammed Benitez_ ** __**"Medusa":** _ _ __**Captain** _ _

__**Specializes in Tactics.** _ _

__**All other former mercenary mechpilots will have the rank of lieutenant.** _ _


	5. Chapter 5

**_No One Surprises a Dragon_ **

**_(Preview)_ **

It was one of the top stories on every newsfeed within the Coromodir system that day along with the coronation and would no doubt be one of the top stories in all the rest of the Reach soon enough. Nico and Kamea standing in front of the Argo at the docking yards shaking hands and looking into the camera with the entire senior staff of the Dragon's Raiders standing behind the ace mechwarrior and Lord Madeira standing behind the future High Lady cheering and clapping.

**_Nico Strong aka "The Dragon of the Reach" and hero of the Aurigan Civil War agrees to Lady Kamea's proposal and accepts the position as Colonel of the revived Aurigan Coalition Special Forces! Joining him will be the entirety of the Dragon's Raiders mercenary group, with such figures as the rampaging beauty of the battlefield, Behemoth, and the genius tech pilot who is also a native Aurigan, Medusa!_ **

**_Lady Kamea Arano followed up with these words:_ **

**_"I am extremely grateful for Nico Strong and his mercenary company, The Dragon's Raiders, accepting my offer and honored to have them protecting the citizens of the Aurigan Reach! With their experience and insight, we will weed out the remaining Directorate pockets of resistances and strengthen our borders to ensure a stable rebirth of the Coalition!"_ **

**_Already reports are coming in from recruitment stations across the system as hordes of young men and women flock to their doors and enlist in hopes of having the honor of serving alongside the legendary mechpilot!_ **

**_It's right to assume that the Reach's future is looking safe and secure with the unstoppable might of the Dragon's Raiders watching over it!_ **

Meanwhile, the former Taurian fortress now turned palace was alive with activity as everyone, from the highest of nobles to the lowest of the servants were making preparations for the coronation of Lady Kamea Arano. Last minute security checks were being made. Chefs and their assistants were checking the smallest details on their food. Castle servants were arranging then rearranging the decorations in the throne room while making sure the flood of guests were all taken care of.

Meanwhile, in her chambers, the next ruler of the Aurigan Coalition went over her own last-minute checks with her adviser while she was shielded by a dressing screen being seen to by her attendants.

"Alexander", she calls from across the room to the couch where her childhood friend was sitting with his back to her out of respect and tradition, "Have the patrols been dispatch throughout the capital?", she asks while lifting her arms up so her coronation dress could be fitted. While tradition dictated that no man other the noblewoman's family could in the room while she was getting dress, Kamea was able to make an exception for Alexander simply because he was her head adviser.

"Yes, Lady Kamea. The last transport truck dropped off its troops to their position twenty minutes ago. There are currently five thousands loyal men of House Arano and hundreds more from various other houses patrolling the streets at this moment", Lord Madeira answers.

"Good, now what of the outer perimeter of the city?"

"As of right now, four lances of the Dragon's Raiders are currently deployed around the city in on all four main roads leading into it. Captain Behemoth's lance is guarding the north. Captain Glitch's patrol is watching the south. We have Captain Dekker's unit patrolling on the western entrance to the capital and finally, Captain Medusa's and his mechs are keeping an eye on things in the east. All four lances have been reinforced with infantry, support vehicles, and air support and both Leopards from the Argo are awaiting in orbit above with two full lances ready to provide backup if needed.", Alexander reports while looking at his data slate.

"Excellent", Kamea says as she leans her head to the left to allow the hairdresser to finish up combing out her strands, "I will not have a repeat of what happen five years ago."

Alexander doesn't give a response to this statement and this peculiar behavior was picked up by Kamea.

"Is something wrong, Alexander?", she asks while slipping her feet into the heels being presented to her.

"I still think it's a bad idea for you to walk through the streets after your crowning", he answers after a moment.

"Alexander, we have been through this. I have to show everyone, my allies, and my enemies, that I will not cower behind these walls. I need to show the people a strong front and that they are right to place their faith in me."

"But through the entirety of the main road? We still have three infantry companies worth of Directorate's soldiers still unaccounted for here on Coromodir and this...", Alexander stops for a moment to find the proper words, "Brazen display of yours is basically begging them to try something! It's almost as if you're taunting them!"

"I assure you, Alexander, everything will be fine. With all their mechs and armored support gone, they are no more than rabble now especially without my uncle or cousin to guide them and they will disappear back into the masses soon enough and never bother me again. Though if it will help ease your fears, we can have a task force assemble to weed them out after things have settled down", Kamea states as the servants finish up the final touches on her dress, "Besides, it's like you said, we have thousands of men patrolling the streets and four mech lances to provide a safe and secure coronation and this show of force will prove to be a powerful deterrent."

"I would still like it to go on record that I'm against this", Alexander insisted.

"Duly noted", Kamea says, "Now, any update on Nico and Darius?"

"Their uniforms were delivered to them onboard the  _Argo_ and they are currently using the dressing room in the south wing to get ready for the coronation", Alexander said, "Though giving them House Arano's uniforms will no doubt raise questions among the other nobles. Did you not state that a universal uniform would be given to the military?"

Kamea nods as she dismisses her servants and waits for them to exit the room before talking. She then exits from behind the dressing screen, fully outfitted in her coronation dress and moves toward the window to look out onto Cordia City.

"I said exactly that but that will only apply to the regular military. I indeed for the special forces branch to serve directly under House Arano and myself, just like the Royal Guard."

The head of House Madiera rubs his chin in thought, "The Dragon's Raiders can easily field a large number of mech if you count all the ones on the  _Argo,_ their Leopards, and in storage."

"Nico did have a near obsession with salvageable parts over actual pay when it came to contracts", Kamea reminded him, "Half of his mechs were piece together by his own men and use to belong to someone else."

"That's a strong mech force under your direct command, not even counting the mechs of the Royal Guard or the ones confiscated from House Espinosa", Alexander continued, "The other houses might see this as a power move."

"That's exactly what I want them to see it as", Kamea confesses, "While I will give them back a majority of the powers they had before my uncle's coup and reward those who were loyal to me, I will also make it clear that I am in charge of the Reach and I will never again be caught off-guard like I was five years ago because I foolishly believed that no one would ever betray me. You and Nico are the only ones I fully trust right now, Alexander. The only ones I can depend on."

"What makes you so sure Nico won't stab you in the back down the road?", Alexander asks.

"I beg your pardon?", the Countess of Coromodir said.

"I'm not saying he will but how can you be so sure", Alexander said, "What to keep him from changing his mind if he gets a better offer from the Taurians or the Capellans?

Kamea remains silent for a moment as she looks at all the preparations being done for her coronation before speaking, "Because any sane mercenary would have turn tell and ran when the Taurians enter the war on my uncle's side, but Nico didn't. But like I have said before, that man is anything but sane."

On the outer edges of Cordia City, sixteen towering mechs stood watch on all the major roads leading into it. Hundreds of infantry were positioned in machine nest and bunker alongside them and entire tank squads were dedicated to providing aid should it be needed.

"Surime, this is Behemoth, all things clear in our sector."

"Copy that, Behemoth. With you all lances have checked in with all conditions normal", the navigator turned navy officer who was in charge at the moment while Dragon and Darius were attending the coronation radios back, "Next check-in is in thirty minutes, see you then."

"Copy that, Sumire. Behemoth out", the towering woman says as she leans back into the chair within the cockpit of her  ** _Banshee BNC-3M_**  and observes her surrounding through her cameras, mainly that of her lance consisting of Big Sly, Deadeye, and Tinker. The first two were deck out in  ** _Commando COM-2D mechs_** while Tinker herself was in a  ** _Trebuchet TBT-5N._** Behemoth decided it would be best for the pilot from Galax to have a fire support position while on guard duty, despite her being a more frontline pilot. This was of course due to Dragon's suggestion that all mechpilots be well versed in all combat roles, not just the ones they're good at as this would prevent a shortage of pilots in a particular role from occurring.

"There he goes again, making a decision that I can't help but agree with", Behemoth grumbles, "He makes them so often that you would think that he used to be a general or something."

"You talking about Dragon?", a voice came through the comm, startling the pilot and making her nearly jump out of her seat.

"God damn it, Medusa!", she screams once she recovers, "Why are you on my lance's comm channel?!"

"Um, I'm on the lance commanders' comm channel right now which Dragon ordered to remain open until the coronation was over, remember?", the tech whiz native reminded his counterpart and after a moment, Behemoth shook her head in embarrassment upon realizing her mistake.

"Anyway, you were saying something about Dragon?" Medusa press on.

"Yeah, have you ever notice something weird about the decisions he makes sometimes? Like how some of his tactical choices would fit better with a full-blown general than a mercenary company commander?", Behemoth asks.

"Like how he sees the big picture, not just what's right in front of him?", Dekker interject as he and Glitch join in on this conversation, "Remember that job on Joppa where he remained on the Argo and directed the mission? He sent you and me around the main base to scout the hills behind it while Glitch and Medusa took it over on their own..."

"And you two were able to ambush the returning patrol and inflict some serious damage on them before Medusa and I showed up and help you wipe them out? Yeah, I remember that one", Glitch finish, "Markham would have us just take the base and thought of nothing else."

"Sad but true", Behemoth agreed as she remembers back to her old commander, "He was never one to plan ahead."

"As much as I agree with your conversation, you guys need to get back to your guard duties", Surime comes through over the channel, "Dragon and Kamea want no surprises today."

"Oh, give us a break, will ya? This has got to be the most boring job will have ever taken, even before we became part of the regular military. The only upside is the fact that they haven't gotten us our uniforms yet besides Dragon and Darius, so we can stay in our usual outfit for the time being", Behemoth complained.

"True, but that doesn't mean you any less in the Coalition military than those soldiers next to your mech's feet right now", Surime counters.

"Well, we haven't even taken our oaths of service yet either. All we've done is sign some paperwork", Medusa points out, "By most accounts, we're still technically mercenaries working underneath Kamea."

"Then act like it then and keep watch. Everyone knows there are still Directorate's holdouts here on Coromodir and the coronation would be a fine target for them", Surime orders.

Behemoth hits her head on the back of her seat, "If I knew military life was going to be this boring, I might not have signed up."

"What are you babbling about? We literally just got done fighting a civil war less than a week ago and you're already itching for more action?", Glitch asks.

"She has somewhat of a point. Other than maybe taking out a few Directorate holdouts, this is probably going to be the majority of our job from here on out. Patrolling, guard duty, and if we're really unlucky, training instructors duty", Medusa added, "Things are starting to settle down now around the Reach, thank God."

A light bulb goes off in Glitch's head, "Oh yeah, you're from the Reach, aren't you, Medusa? Just like Darius?"

"Yeah, born on one of Mechdur's lunar colonies but mostly grew up in Katinka", he answered, "Luckily, the war didn't affect either one of them too much so they're mostly still intact."

Behemoth lets out a whistle, "Must have been hard on you to fight against your own people during the war."

Medusa shrugs, "Not really, they were in my way and I was getting paid to get them out of it. Simple as that."

While his three fellow lance commanders had their discussion, Dekker was alone with his thought as Medusa's words sunk into him. If what Dragon told him and Surime back on the Argo was true, the Reach was about to be anything but peaceful here soon. Pretty soon the Dragon's Raiders were going to more than likely find themselves back on the frontlines and this time against a real military threat. Sure the Directorate wasn't a pushover but now they were talking about the most powerful state out here in the Periphery factions or one of the Inner Sphere factions. Either one of them could easily beat the Coalition through sheer military attrition alone.

And despite what Dragon told him, Dekker felt it best that the same people he has been through hell and back with for years had the right to know what might be coming for them.

He presses the button that tells Behemoth, Medusa, and Glitch to switch to the private comms channels that not even the Argo could listen in on and after getting three confirmation signals….

"There's something I need to tell ya but you can't tell anyone else."

Back to the confines of the Royal Palace, Nico and Darius were discussing a matter of grave importance.

"How the hell do you walk around in this thing?!", Darius screams as he takes a look at himself in the mirror alongside Nico. Both of them were wearing uniforms that depict the colors of House Arano with a dark gray tunic and trousers, along with a high-collared red and white coat accented in gold to distinguish themselves as officers. On both of their shoulders were silver eagle insignia, only Darius had an anchor in the middle of his while Nico simply sported a military rifle. Surprisingly, only Nico had to get a haircut as Darius already kept his in a nice trim fashion that passed regulations. The "Dragon of the Reach", hair that was once a jungle mess was now a straight buzzcut that was high and tight or a "Hairstyle 18", as the troops nickname it apparently.

Also, the mechwarrior was "ask" to shave by Lady Kamea herself though it felt like more of a threatening order than a suggestion and now not a single hair was present on his face. In fact, the only thing that remained that could help identify him was the scar and his green dragon tattoo and despite there being technology available that could remove the tattoo, Kamea told him that he could keep it.

"You get used to it", Nico merely said and turns to walk away while Darius adjusted himself. It was only after a few moments that he realizes the meaning of Nico's words and turns around.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm from a noble house out in the Deep Periphery, remember? I have worn far less comfortable clothing then this", Nico answers without turning around to face his executive officer.

After pondering for a moment on his answer, Darius merely shrugs and goes back to fixing his uniform. While Nico sat down on the couch that was in the dressing room. But while he thought his answer was the end of the matter, Darius did not as he kept adjusting his clothes while thinking over in his mind.

" _No one really knows about Dragon's past. The only man that knew that was Raju and he ain't talking anything soon. Wonder why he hasn't told anyone else?",_ he thought before a knock at the doors brings him back to his senses and he turns to see a large man in a servant outfit standing at the entrance.

"All guests are to make their way to the throne room now", he announces, "I have been sent to escort you there."

"Alright, let's get going", Darius said and was about to move when he notices the expression on Nico's face. His eyes were scanning the man up and down as if looking for something. Darius himself took a closer look at him and notices that he was slightly sweating and that his outfit seem to be a little too small on him with his seams looking ready to burst and his buttons being pushed to their limits. He then eyes his right-hand twitching near his side and makes out the outline of something bulky in his pocket.

"We were told by Lord Madiera himself that the ringing of the main bell would tell us when to proceed to the throne room", Nico questions in a cold voice, his eyes glaring a hole in the man's soul.

"Ah, yes. Y-you see there has been a c-c-change of plans", the man stammers and focus his attention on Nico, allowing Darius a chance to move closer to the tray of condiments and drinks that were left for them.

A formation of Royal Guards surrounded Kamea and Alexander, getting ready to escort them to the throne room through the back hallway when the Chief Adviser to the future High Lady wristwatch starting beeping.

"That's odd", he says as he takes a look at who was contacting him.

"What is it?", Kamea asks.

"This is the channel used whenever someone from the Argo needed to talk to me back when I was on the ship", he says as he answers the call, "This is Alexander."

"We have a situation", Nico's voice immediately response, low enough for only Alexander and Kamea to hear, "We need you over here in our dressing room."

Kamea and Alexander exchange baffle looks at one another for a moment.

"Say that again", Alexander says.

"We have a situation, a security situation. I highly suggest you come to the dressing you assign to Darius and myself", Nico says once more just as the sound of someone getting punch is heard in the background.

"What was that noise?", Kamea asks.

"Oh, perfect, you're there too, that makes things easier", Nico says as another punch is heard, "You might want to get here quickly", and with that the feed went dead, causing the two childhood friends to look at one another.

Minutes later, a dozen Royal Guards were lining up on either side of the door that lead into the dressing room assign to the Commanding and Executive officer of the  _ACS Argo_ with two more getting ready to open the door while Kamea and Alexander waited in the back.

"Come in, Nico", Alexander said over his communication device, "We are outside your dressing room."

A second later, the door to the room cracks and Darius peeks through the opening, "Huh, lot of guys with guns out here, Dragon", he calls back.

"That's to be expected, they are Royal Guards", Alexander comments as he moves forward to talk him, "What's the situation?"

Darius hesitates for a moment before answering, "Perhaps it's best you come and see for yourself. You can bring a few guards in if you want though I doubt all of them are going to be able to fit in here", he says as he opens the door. Alexander moves toward the door but stops once Kamea moves ahead him despite the outfit she was wearing

"I'm coming in too", she says and only receives a nod from Darius in response.

"Far be it from me to keep you from going wherever you want inside your own castle, Lady Kamea", he says, "Or is it High Lady Kamea now?"

Kamea rolls her eyes, "It's Lady Kamea for the next hour. Now let me inside."

"Are you sure this is the wisest action, Lady Kamea?", Alexander questions.

"If the situation is dire enough that Nico felt prudent to contact you, then I should see to it as well. As he said, things would be easier if I saw what was going on", Kamea says and proceed forward without waiting for a response from Alexander.

She bursts into the room pass Darius and was instantly stop in her tracks by the sight she witness before her.

Standing no less than ten feet away with a lit cigarette in his mouth, his eyes narrow in anger, and topless from the waist up was the mercenary who along with his company, single-handily won her the throne of the Aurigan Coalition. His muscular tone body immediately caught her attention as she took in his chiseled abs as well as perfectly proportion biceps. His once ragged hair was now short and square away while his beard was simply gone. But what captured her focus the most was no doubt the number of scars that riddled his body, mostly worn and faded, though a few recent ones could easily be seen, no doubt earn in the cockpit during the civil war. But all that pale in comparison to the massive green dragon tattoo that encompassed him in his entirely from his torso to his arms. From his back to his front, only the neck was clear of any indication of the masterful artistry that was drawn onto his skin as the beast itself seem to circle around Nico and trap him within its grasp. It was in this moment of awe that Kamea realize that she has never seen the mechcommander without his shirt on in the entire time she knew him, which she shouldn't have she told herself in the back of her mind but then she realizes that she has never seen him wear anything that could be considered short sleeve as well for he had always worn clothes that covered up his entire body except for his neck and head and he even wore fingerless gloves.

" _Is this really the same man I met five years ago in the Royal Hangar?"_

Nico was busy considering his options when he realizes that Darius had let someone into the room and thus he turn to acknowledge them. Upon doing so, he found himself almost swallowing his cigarette.

Dress in a crimson red dress that adored her entire body from the top of her neck all the way down to covering and sliding across the floor while hugging the curves of her figure was the woman who dragged him into this whole mess two years ago. Golden linings were etched into the fabric of the entire right side of the dress that shined in the sunlight that was coming through the window. The snow-white gloves she was fitted with reach to her elbows while every finger was cover in black at the tips of them. A long white elegant scarf was draped across the front of her shoulders, no doubt to make it seem like she had angel wings whenever she walked forward and the breeze caught it and flung it back. Her Maori tattoos could be seen in the parts of her arms not covered by the gloves or the dress, but from where Nico was standing, she was displaying them with pride and nothing less. Her black as night hair was combed to her left and it took Nico a moment to finally realize something he should had known the moment he accepted the rank of colonel. The side of Kamea he witnessed on the shuttle was the side she never wanted to show anyone. The Kamea standing little more than three yards away from him was one he didn't even knew existed. That naive little girl from five years ago who he said he wouldn't mind having a one night stand with was now the same woman who he had come to greatly respect over the course of two years of brutal warfare. The mech pilot who skills in the cockpit almost rival his own at one time was gone and in her place, this noblewoman, the highest in this region of space, was put in her stead.

And it was at that moment that the "Dragon of the Reach" knew that things between him and High Lady Kamea would never be the same for in the darkest reaches of his mind he realizes that he had seen her like this before. She looked exactly the same as she did in his dream the day he took her up on offer.

"Um, Nico, if you don't mind me asking", Alexander said, snapping both Kamea and the ace pilot out of their thoughts, "Who is that man tied to the chair and why are you shirtless?"

Nico briefly returns his attention to the servant from earlier who has now bound to a chair with strips him and Darius tore off from an unknown source.. The man's jaw was bloody and he was sported to black eyes but somehow he was able to fiercely glare at Nico before turning his eyes on Kamea herself.

"Well, to answer your question, this man is the reason why I don't have a shirt on due to the fact it was torn in the little scuffle I had with him and I decided it best to use it to tie him up", he answers as he points to the couch where a small handgun was laying, "I also didn't know the servants of House Arano were packing heat. That's highly unusual for a place that has this many guards."

Nico then moves toward the man and lifts up the flap of his shirt, revealing a tattoo of a Spanish ibex on a knot of thorns on the man's chest.

"Nor did I know that they have House Espinosa's symbol tattooed onto their skin", Nico states.


End file.
